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SELECTED 
IDYLLS OE THE KING 

THE COMING OF ARTHUR 
GARETH AND LYNETTE 
LANCELOT AND ELAINE 

THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 

EDITED, WITH INTBODUCTION AND NOTES 
BY 

FRANKLIN T. BAKER, A.M. 

PROFESSOR OF EN(JLISH IN TEACHERS COLLEGE 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 




BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 



CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION 1 

The Life of Tennyson 1 

The Arthurian Legends 7 

The Idylls of the King 10 

A BIBLIOGRAPHY 20 

IDYLLS OF THE KING ...... 21 

Dedication 21 

The Coming of Arthur ' T .... 23 

Gareth and Lynette 40 

Lancelot and Elaine 87 

The Passing of Arthur .- — 132 

To THE Queen 148 

NOTES 150 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY . . 167 
Earlier Arthurian Poems by Tennyson 

Sir Galahad 177 

Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere . . 178 

The Lady of Shalott 179 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Alfred, Lord Tennyson .... Frontispiece . 
Portrait from a Photograph 



Shikld and Sword 39 

12th century 

King Arthur 132 

After the statue in bronze by Peter Vischer 

King Arthur's Round Table 147 

After a work of art in Witichester Castle, 1235-1425 



INTRODUCTION 

THE LIFE OF TENNYSON 

We usually like to know something of the lives of 
great men. Just as we like to see the men whose abil- 
ity and industry have made them famous, so we like 
to know something of their history : their childhood, 
their interests, their personal appearance and quali- 
ties, and how they reached their goal. Even when the 
great man is only a writer, and has lived a life with- 
out exciting adventures, it is interesting to learn what 
he was like and how he impressed those among whom 
he lived. So it has become a custom in reading great 
books to read also the lives of their authors. 

Alfred Tennyson was one of the men who helped 
to make the nineteenth century the wonderful century 
it was — wonderful in science, statesmanship, and lit- 
erature. By a curious coincidence he was born in the 
same year, 1809, as were Poe the poet, Darwin the 
scientist, and Gladstone and Lincoln the statesmen. 
He was one of the twelve children of the Reverend 
Dr. George Tennyson, vicar of the church at Som- 
ersby, Lincolnshire, near the eastern coast of England. 

The Tennysons were a remarkable family. The 
father was a scholarly man of great physical and men- 
tal vigor. The mother was clear-sighted, tender, and 
just. The children were alert and imaginative. In 
their early childhood several of them, especially Al- 
fred, his two brothers Charles and Frederick, and two 
of the sisters, found pleasure not only in the custom- 
ary pastimes of young people, but also in making 



2 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

verses niid stories for the entertainment of the rest of 
the family. Later, when Alfred began to be famous, 
an older writer, Leigh Hunt, hearing that three or four 
others of the Tennyson family could write good verses, 
said : " Here is a nest of nightingales for you ! " 

Tennyson, like most men of genius, was a preco- 
cious child. He began to make verses when he was 
five or six years old ; before he was fourteen, he had 
written many things in verse, among them an epic of 
six thousand lines. Some fragments of these childish 
writings that have been preserved show that he had 
even then both imagination and a feeling for the 
music of verse. He read much and eagerly, both in 
poetry and prose. By the time he was fourteen he was 
familiar with a good deal of English poetry. Byron, 
then at the height of his fame, especially appealed 
to him. In 1827 he and his brother Charles published 
a small volume called Poems hy Tiuo Brothei^s. 
Though it contained no great poetry, the verses gave 
promise of the fine work that came later. It is pleas- 
ant to know that the two young authors were still 
real boys ; for they at once spent a j)art of the money 
they got for the volume in a holiday trip to the sea- 
shore. 

The region in which these children were brought up 
was "a land of quiet villnges, large fields, gray hill- 
sides, and noble tall-towered churches " ; a land of 
rich and quiet beauty, as are so many of the English 
Landscapes. Here the young poet grew into that love 
of nature and that sensitiveness to beauty of which his 
])oetry is so full. 

His early education was obtained first at a school 
in Louth — a school of tlie vigorous type that has been 
described so often in En dish fiction. But in a short 



INTRODUCTION 3 

while he was withdrawn and taught at home. Under 
his father's scholarly guidance, he read in preparation 
for the university his Greek, Latin, and mathematics. 

In 1828 Tennyson entered Trinity College at the 
University of Cambridge. Although a great reader 
then, as he was all his life, and a good student in the 
classics, the only honors he won were for the prize 
poem Timhuctoo^ still included among his works. But 
the life at the University meant much more in his de- 
velopment than mere knowledge of books. He was one 
of a circle of young men who called themselves " The 
Apostles," and who eagerly studied and discussed 
many important matters of religion, art, literature, 
politics, and science. Their views were advanced, as 
befitted young men of high ideals and ability. Many 
of this group later rose to eminence in the great activi- 
ties of England in the first half of the century. 

We have some interesting accounts of how Tenny- 
son appeared to others at this time and later — '* like 
a poet," it was often said, but not pale and feeble. He 
was tall, broad-shouldered, powerful. His features 
were clear cut and strong, his hair dark and wavy. 
Later, when his fame brought him and Thomas Car- 
lyle together, Carlyle wrote of him : " A fine, large- 
featured, dim-eyed, bronze-coloured, shaggy-headed 
man is Alfred ; dusty, smoky, free and easy ; . . . a 
most restful, brotherly, solid-hearted man." And 
again : " One of the finest looking men in the world. 
A great shock of rough, dusky, dark hair ; bright, 
laughing hazel eyes ; massive, aquiline face, most mas- 
sive yet most delicate ; of sallow brown complexion, 
almost Indian looking ; clothes cynically loose, free 
and easy, smokes infinite tobacco. His voice is musi- 
cal, metallic, fit for loud laughter and piercing wail, 



4 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

and all that may lie between ; speech and speculation 
free and plenteous ; I do not meet in these late decades 
such company over a pipe ! We shall see what he will 
grow to/' When we remember that Carlyle liked a 
manly man, and that he knew one when he saw him, 
we are set to wondering how some people — especially 
boys — ever get the notion that a poet cannot be manly, 
or that poetry is not made for manly readers. Both 
Gladstone and Lincoln, the great statesmen who were 
of Tennyson's own age, were lovers of poetry ; so 
were the great scientists Huxley and Tyndall, the 
former being among Tennyson's intimate friends. 

Tennyson's first volume of verse, after his juvenile 
work mentioned above, was Poems ^Chiefly Lyrical^ 
issued in 1830. In 1832 appeared another volume, en- 
titled simply Poems. In 1842 appeared his English 
Idylls. Now between these last two volumes there is 
a considerable interval, not only in time but in char- 
acter. The poems of the first two volumes were light, 
graceful, musical, but with only here and there an 
expression of serious thought or deep purpose. They 
were pretty, but without weight. In the 1842 volume, 
however, it was at once apparent that here was a poet 
who could not only see beauty, but think and feel 
more deeply than other men — a man who was cast in 
a larger mould. This growth in Tennyson is accounted 
for in two ways. First, he had developed his powers 
by study and thought, as he had changed from a boy 
of twenty-three to a man of thirty-three. Second he 
had had an experience that had set him to thinking 
more deejdy upon the great problems of life. This was 
the death in 1833 of his dearest friend, Arthur Hal- 
lam ; the friend to whose memory was written the 
great poem In Mcmoriam. So general and so cordial 



INTRODUCTION 5 

was the reception given to the volume of 1842 that 
Tennyson's fame as a poet could now be considered 
established. From this time on to the end of his long 
life, he published new volumes of poetry at short in- 
tervals. 

After leaving the university, Tennyson continued 
to study and write, setting himself, as Milton liad 
done, seriously to the task of improving his knowledge 
and his powers. The ten years between 1832 and 1842 
were a period of solitude and work. The death of 
Arthur Hallam had deeply saddened him. The death 
of his father about the same time not only brought 
sorrow to the family but lessened their income and 
made necessary their removal from their old home, 
the vicarage at Somersby. Yet so well spent were 
these years of sorrow and narrowed income that the 
poems he published in 1842 put Tennyson at once in 
the rank of England's great poets. 

From this time on, both his name and his prosperity 
grew. In 1845 he was given by the Government a 
pension of two hundred pounds a year. He published 
in 1847 a long poem, The Prince&s^ dealing in a half- 
serious, half-humorous way with the question of the 
education of women and their place in the world ; and 
in 1850, In Memoriam^ one of his greatest and most 
famous poems. 

His eminence being now secure, and his revenue 
from the sale of his poetry sufficient, he married Emily 
Sellwood, to whom he had formerly been engagedo 
Shortly after his marriage he was made poet-laureate, 
succeeding in this honor a poet of no less distinction 
than the great Wordsworth, who had recently died. 
In 1853 he bought a house at Farringford on the Isle 
of Wight. Here he spent in study and retirement the 



6 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

most of the remaining forty years of his life. In 1868 
he built liimself a iine summer house at Aldworth, 
Surrey. But it is the Isle of Wight that we think of 
as the home of Tennyson. 

The publication of Maud in 1855 and of The 
Idylh of the King (containing Enid, Vivien, Elaine, 
and Guinevere) in 1859 still further increased the 
poet's fame. Ten thousand copies of the Idylls were 
sold in the first six weeks. And though he published 
a number of poems in the succeeding thirty years, 
among them poems of such wide popularity as Enoch 
Ardefi, nothing could make his name better known. 
He was, by 1860, already regarded as England's 
foremost living poet. 

Many honors came to him in the latter half of his 
life. Oxford University gave him an honorary degree. 
The University of Glasgow offered him the position 
of lord rector. In 1873 he declined a baronetcy ; but 
when, in 1884, he was offered a peerage, he accepted 
it, as he said, for the sake of his elder son Hallam. 
Among his friends he numbered such men as Glad- 
stone, Browning, Carlyle, Ruskin, Thackeray, Fitz- 
gerald, and Huxley. To the end of his life he retained 
his faculties in full vigor. He died in October, 1892. 

Like most great men Tennyson had many interests. 
All his life he was a reader, a student, and an ob- 
server ; he knew not only literature, but history, poli- 
tics, and science. He was in touch with all the impor- 
tant things that the men of his day were thinking and 
doing. He loved nature for its beauties, and he stud- 
ied it as science. He traveled frequently, both in the 
British Islands and on the Continent, finding wild 
scenery such as that of the Pyrenees Mountains espe- 
cially to his taste. 



INTRODUCTION 7 

He was, for all bis vigor, a shy and sensitive man, 
not seeking notoriety, shrinking under hostile criti- 
cism, quick to feel the rights or the sufferings of others. 
An essentially earnest man, he has filled his poetry 
with the more serious thoughts of his age. Religions 
faith, and its power to make men better ; scientific 
doubt, and its power to free men from superstition ; 
knowledge, and its power to make men strong and 
free ; greed, and its tendency to make men base, cruel, 
and corrupt ; ideals, and their power to lift men to 
higher planes of feeling and conduct ; the eternal con- 
flict of right and wrong ; death and the future life ; 
true patriotism, and its power to lift the country 
above cowardice and greed ; the beauty of charity, 
of love, of the domestic affections; — these are the 
threads that run through all the beautifully wrought 
and fanciful fabric of his poetr}^ And so we find him 
both in his life and in his work, high-minded, thought- 
ful, and a lover of the beautiful. 

THE ARTHURIAN LEGENDS 

The Arthurian legends, the stories of King Arthur 

and his knights of the Round Table, have had a long 

and varied historv. They were not made by 

•^ , , "^ Origin and 

any one man, or at any one place, or at any deveiop- 

.. m 1 1 11- mentolthe 

one tmie. Ihey began somewhere back in Arthurian 

the dim past, perhaps about the seventh 

century, as tales about a Celtic King Arthur, who had 

led the Britons in their battles agrainst the heathen 

hordes of Saxon invaders, and, as the historian Nen- 

nius writing two centuries later tells us, " defeated 

tliem in twelve great battles." Whether Arthur was 

real, or the battles twelve, or anything certain, we 

shall never know ; but scholars are now inclined to 



8 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

believe that there was a real King Arthur, a leader of 
power enough to have his name taken up and passed 
on in popular tradition, — not through written records, 
but by word of mouth. 

The stories passed from land to land and from cen- 
tury to' century through a stretch of eight hundred 
years. When the Normans came over and conquered 
England in the eleventh century, they found them 
tliere as a survival of Celtic traditions about the 
heroic past of the Celts. The stories then passed over 
into France, and took the flavor of French chivalry 
with its ideals of bravery, courtesy, and love. Then, 
as they spread in France and Germany and England, 
they absorbed the myths and legends of Christianity, 
the customs and ideals of new centuries, and other 
stories that were at first not even known to the orio*- 
inal makers of the legends about Arthur. Such addi- 
tions were, for exam])le, the story of Lancelot, the 
story of Tristan and Isolde, and the legend of the 
Holy Grail. 

Finally, tliese composite stories were gathered and 
arranged into some sort of unity by Sir Thomas 
Malory, and printed by Thomas Caxton, the first 
English printer. A part of Caxton's introduction 
shows how he regarded it : — 

" And I, according to my copy, have down set it in 
print, to the intent that noble men may see and learn 
Malory's ^^^^ "^^^® ^^^^ ^^ chivalry, the gentle and 
d^Arthur ^^^*^"^"s deeds that some knights used in 
those days, by wliieh they came to honor, 
and how they tluit were vicious were punished, and 
oft put to shame and rebuke. . . . For herein may 
be seen noble clilvalry, courtesy, humanity, friendli- 
ness, hardiness, love, friendship, cowardice, murder. 



INTRODUCTION 9 

hate, virtue, and sin. Do after the good, and leave 
the evil, and it shall bring you unto good fame and 
renown. And, for to pass the time, this book shall be 
pleasant to read in, but for to give faith and belief 
that all is true that is contained herein, ye be at your 
own liberty.'* 

So seemed these stories to a wise man of the fif- 
teenth century ; and so they seemed to Tennyson, 
when he drew upon them for The, Idylls of the King. 

An outline of the history and development of these 
legends is given as follows in Andrew Lang's Tenny- 
son : 1 — 

A sketch of the evolution of the Aithurian legends might 
run thus : — 

Sixth to eighth century, growth of myth about an Arthur, 
real, or supposed to be real. 

Tenth century, the Duchies of Normandy and Biittany 
are in close relations ; by the eleventh century Nor- 
mans know Celtic Arthurian stories. 

After 1066, Normans in contact with the Celtic peoples 
of this island are in touch with the Arthur tales. 

1130-1145, works on Arthurian matter by Geoffrey of 
Monmouth. 

1155, Wace's French translation of Geoffrey. 

1150-1182, Chretien de Troyes writes poems on Arthur- 
ian topics. 

French prose romances on Arthur, from, say, 1180 to 
1250. Those romances reach Wales, and modify, in 
translations, the original Welsh legends, or, in part, 
supplant them. 

Amjilifications and recastings are numerous. In 1485 
Caxton publishes Malory's selections from French and 
English sources, the whole being Tennyson's main 
source, Le Morte d' Arthur. 

^ Alfred Tennyson^ by Andrew Lang. Dodd, Mead and Company, 

1901. 



10 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

THE IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Tennyson regarded the Arthur stories as the " most 
wonderful poetic material in the world." Nor was he 
the first English poet to feel their fascination. For a 
linndred years or more after Malory pnb- 
in^te?e?t°in^ lished liis Morts d'Arthin\ the book was 
po])ular, and the stories were often referred 
to in other literature. Spenser inti-oduced them into 
The Faerie Queene^ and both Milton and Dryden 
thought of making them the subject of an epic. Scott 
revived them in the nineteenth century, by introduc- 
ing Arthur and Merlin into his poem, Tlie Bridal of 
Triermain. Tennyson's interest in the stories dates 
from his boyhood. " The vision of Arthur as I have 
drawn him," he said, ''had come upon me when, lit- 
tle more than a boy, I first lighted upon Malory." 
And the theme continued to interest him throuoliout 
his long life. In the 1832 volume, in The Lady of 
Shalott^ he introduces the story of Elaine and her 
love for Lancelot. In the 1842 volume, English 
Idylls, there were three poems on Arthurian themes ; 
the Morte d' Arthur, Sir Galahad, and Sir Lancelot 
and Queen Guinevere. And in the introduction to 
Morte d' Arthur, called T/ie Epic, he speaks of the 
poem as the last of twelve books of an epic, which 
indeed it later came to be. It is clear, then, that Ten- 
nyson had in 1842 already come to think of the 
Arthurian stories as the material for an epic. 

The Idylls were not produced as one great poem, 
but as a number of short poems, grouped around a 
central figure and a common topic, written at differ- 
ent times, and finally unified into one poem. Just 
wiiat this means must be made a little clearer. All 



INTRODUCTION 11 

the Idylls draw their materials from the legends 
about Arthur and his knights of the Round ^y^^Q^x of 
Table: each of them gives some part of the ^^^layiis 
story of how Arthur founded his khigdom, how evil 
came into the court, how it spread, and how it finally 
resulted in the disruption of that '' goodly fellowship," 
the defeat of Arthur's high purposes, and the over- 
throw of his kingdom. The Idylls^ as finally arranged 
to develop this story, are as follows : — 



The Coming of Arthur (1869) 
Gareth and Lynette (1872) 
The Marriage of Geraint 
' (1859) 

Geraint and Enid (1859) 
Bahn and Balan (1885) 
Merlin and Vivien (1859) 



Lancelot and Elaine (1859) 
The Holy Grail (1869) 
Pelleas and Ettarre (1869) 
The Last Tournament (1872) 
Guinevere (1859) 
The Passing of Arthur (1842, 
1869) 



A glance at the dates of the publication of these 
poems makes clear the point of Professor Van Dyke's 
comment that Tennyson " began with the end, con- 
tinued with the beginning, and ended with the mid- 
dle of the story." 

What purpose, If any, had Tennyson beyond retell- 
ing these beautiful and romantic stories? 
A^ rom their first appearance they provoked purpoSTn^ 
this question, a question which has ever since ® ^^^ ^ 
called forth various answers. The poet has himself 
spoken on the subject in no uncertain terms. 

They have taken my hobby and ridden it too hard- 
and have explained some things too allegorically, altliough 
there is an allegorical, or perhaps rather a parabolic drift 
in the poem. . . . 

Of course Camelot, for Instance, a city of shadowy pal- 
aces, Is everywhere symbolic of the gradual growth of Iju- 
man beliefs and institutions and of the spiritual develop- 



l-? SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

ment of man. Yet there is no single fact or incident in the 
Idi/lh, however seemingly mystical, which cannot be ex- 
plained as witiiout any mystery or allegory whatever. 

Once, when asked whether those were right who 
interpreted the three Queens who accompanied Ar- 
thnr on his last voyage as Faith, Hope, and Charity, 
he answered : — 

They are right, and they are not right. They mean 
that, and they do not. They are three of the noblest of 
women. They are also those three Graces, but they are 
much more. I hate to be tied down to say, " This means 
that,'' because the tliought within the image is much more 
than any one interpretation. 

In the same vein, Tennyson makes Percivale say, 
at the end of his long story m The Holy Grail .\ — 

So spake the King ; I know not all he meant. 

So Merlin, when questioned about the mystery of 
Arthur's origin, replies *' in riddling triplets of old 
time " : — 

And truth is this to me, and that to thee ; 
And truth or clothed or naked let it be. 

When Gareth comes to Camelot (in Gareth and 
Lynette)^ Merlin tells him, the city 

is enchanted, son, 
For there is nothing in it as it seems, 
Saving the King ; tho' some there be that hold 
The King a shadow, and the city real. 

And yet, though he " hated to be tied down " to too 
minute an explanation, Tennyson has put the epic 
unity and the general meaning of the Idylls into ex- 
plicit, though general, terms, in the Dedication to the 
Queen at the end of the poem : — 



INTRODUCTION 13 

Accept this old imperfect tale, 

New-old, and shadowing- Sense at war with Soul, 

Rather than that gray king, whose name, a ghost. 

Streams like a cloud, man-shaped, from mountain peak, 

And cleaves to cairn and cromlech still : or him 

Of Geoffrey's book, or him of Malleor's. 

Here is the key to the meaning of the whole poem 

— " Sense at war with Soul " : the conflict between 
the lower and the higher, between evil and 

good. Here is the "parabolic significance" the whole 

— the resemblance of the poem to a para- 
ble ; it illustrates in story form what goes on for- 
ever in the world at large and in the life of every 
one, the conflict between good and evil. 

Arthur and his knights of the Round Table are 
seeking to establish a kingdom in which peace, safety, 
morality, and religion shall overcome disorder, cruelty, 
injustice, and all forms of wickedness. In the first 
tv\o Idylls the good prevails. In the next two, the 
story of Geraint and Enid, evil has crept into the 
Court in the guilty love of Guinevere and Lancelot, 
and the rumor of this threatens the happiness of Ger- 
aint and Enid ; but in the end the good again pre- 
vails. In the next, Balin and Balan^ we have the 
first tragic outcome of the sin at the Court : the ru- 
mor of it leads the two brothers to fight and kill each 
other. In Merlin and Vivien^ the spirit of the Court 
has become poisoned by evil ; and from this time on 
the high purposes of Arthur are frustrated more and 
more by the spread of evil among those who should 
support him. In Lancelot and Elaine it is Lancelot's 
guilty love that keeps him from the pure love of 
Elaine, and causes the tragedy of her death. In The 
Holy Grail there is a sort of interlude in the moral 



14 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

dissolution of the Court. The knights go on a sacred 
quest ; but they neglect their higher duties, their loy- 
alty to the great work of the King, and all but two or 
tln-ee of them, failing to see the Grail because they 
are not pure in heart, have, as Arthur says, " followed 
wandering fires." In Guinevere^ the next to the last, 
the guilt of Lancelot and the Queen is made clear 
even to the unsuspicious King, the Queen flees to a 
convent, and Lancelot and the disloyal knights array 
themselves in civil war against the King. In The 
Passing of Arthur we have the end of the cycle, the 
com])lete overthrow of Arthur's reign of peace and 
goodness. 

Is the ending hopeless? Not quite. Arthur may 
come again, and reestal)lish his power. Even though 
he may not come, there are to be other ways, other 
systems, to accomplish good and defeat evil. 

The old order changeth, yielding place to new, 

And God fulfils himself in many ways, 

Lest one good custom should corrupt the world. 

This is a recurrent idea in Tennyson's work. In In 
3Ic)noriain he wrote, — 

Our little systems have their day, 
They have their day and cease to be ; 
They are but broken parts of 'J'hce, 
And Thou, O Lord, art more than they. 

So much for the general meaning of The Idyll s. 
There are other ideas included in them. In Qareth 
other ^'^^^^ Lynette there is a clear allegory, inter- 

lutanings p^eted by the poet as "the war of time 
against the soul of man," and reflecting tiie general 
teaching of the whole series. The characters represent 
types : '' Lancelot, the noblest brother and the truest 
man," with the good unconquered in him'even by his 



INTRODUCTION 15 

sin ; "Tristram the bold and careless hunter, Galahad 
the pure, unearthly knight, Bors the blunt and honest, 
Bedivere the warm-hearted." Arthur is a type of pei*- 
fection, and perhaps for that reason rather cold and 
unreal. 

In GaretJi and Lynette we have the ideals of King 
Arthur's court at their point of highest influence. 
Evil and violence still exist in the land, but the 
Knights of the Round Table are overcomino^ them in 
combat and by their own high standards of conduct. 
The conflict between " Sense and Soul," that is, be- 
tween the lower and the higher things, is in part a 
conflict of ideals; between Gareth and his mother; 
between Gareth and Lynette, who judges him by ex- 
ternals, but is in the end constrained to recognize true 
knighthood apart from rank ; within Gareth himself, 
who cheerfuUy accepts social humiliation for the op- 
portunity to achieve higher things. In every aspect of 
this story the good triumphs ; it is a victory of Soul 
over Sense. 

In Lancelot and Elaine the evil at the Court is 
growing. The Queen's guilty love has an indirect in- 
fluence for harm to others. It causes the death of 
Elaine, and leaves in us a foreboding of further evil 
and sorrow. This Idyll is less allegorical than Gareth 
and Lynette. In spite of its extreme romanticism, it is 
a story of human beings, rather than a parable for the 
illustration of some general truth. In the progress of 
the struggle of Sense and Soul it stands as a sort of 
crisis or turning-point, with the evil in the ascendancy. 

A manuscript note by the poet runs : — 

The coming of Arthur is on the night of the New Year ; 
when he is wedded " the world is white with May "; on a 
summer night tlie vision of the Holy Giail appears ; and 



16 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

the Last Tournament is in the " yellowing Autumn-tide.'* 
Guinevere flees thro' the mists of autumn, and Arthur's 
death takes place at midnight in midwinter. 

Can the reader do better than accept Tennyson's 
own meaning and purpose in The Idylls? To find in 
them nothing more than a series of beautiful pictures 
in romantic colors is something, but it is not enough ; 
to twist them into minute and definite allegorical 
meanings is too much. They were writtten to charm 
us by their beauty, by their appeal to our imagina- 
tions ; and, in addition, to inculcate certain high ideals 
of life. 

The term " Idylls " was deliberately chosen by Ten- 
nyson to designate the natuie of the poem : not an 
The name ^P^^ "^ ^^^ Ordinary sense of a long, detailed 
"idyUs" ^^^ sustained story, but a succession of 
shorter stories, idylls (from the Greek eidylllon, mean- 
ing a little picture), united by a common thread of 
theme and purpose into a unified whole. 

The diction is appropriate to the theme. It is digni- 
fied, formal, archaic. Rare words are used sometimes 
to designate unfamiliar things, sometimes to 
impart the flavor of antiquity that belongs 
to these old stories. Many figurative expressions are 
used. A random glance over the pages shows many 
such : A doubt that ever smouldered ; like a painted 
battle the war stood ; a voice as of the waters ; Rome, 
slow-fading mistress of the world ; heapt in mounds 
and ridges all the sea drove like a cataract ; his own 
thought drove him like a goad ; brightening the skirts 
of a long cloud ; a cry that shivered to the tingling 
stars ; so the whole round earth is every way bound 
by gold chains about the feet of God. In such figura- 
tive passages, and in brilliant, highly colored pictures 



INTRODUCTION 17 

the pages of Tennyson abound. In a very real sense 
he is one of the most *' picturesque " of our poets. 

The verse is, except in the lyrics now and then 
introduced, pentameter blank verse. This The verse- 
means unrliyraed verse, with five beats or ^^^^^ 
accents to a line. Thus : — 

So all day long the noise of battle rolled 
Among the mountains % the winter sea. 

So saying, from the ruined shrine he stept, 
And in the moon athwart the place of tombs, 
Where lay the mighty bones of ancient men, 
Old knights, and over them the sea-wind sang 
Shrill, chill, with flakes of foam. He stepping down 
By zig-zag paths, and juts of pointed rock, 
Came on the shining levels of the lake. 

But good verse is not to be read with the beats or 
accents evenly strong. In the first line above, " So all 
day long," etc., the stresses are nearly equal. In the 
next line they are by no means so : the word by has 
almost no stress. So in the first line of the next pas- 
sage, from is not stressed ; in the second line, i?i is 
not ; and in the last line, on is but faintly accented 
and of not at all. Now note what is gained by these 
variations. Each of these unstressed or faintly stressed 
syllables either follows or precedes a foot (of two 
syllables) in which the stress is very strong. Sorn^ 
times the stress may be equally distributed on the two 
syllables of a foot, as in the sixth, the seventh, and 
the last line above. We may even have the order re- 
versed, for the sake of variety, and have the stress fall 



i 



18 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

on the first syllable of the foot, making a trochee in- 
stead of an Uurihus, thns : — 

Wearing the white flower of a blameless life. 

If we indicate the faint or absent accent by a single 
mark, and the strong accent by a double mark, these 
variations are more clearly seen. 

Among the mountains by the winter sea. 
And in the moon athwart the place of tombs. 
Came ou the shining levels of the lake. 
Torn as a sail that leaves the rope is torn. 
These changes in stress give a pleasing variety to the 
verse : they break up the monotony of sound ; so that 
the rhythm is very different from the mechanical effect 
of a Mother Goose rhyme : — 

Hickory, dickory, dock, 
The mouse ran up the clock, 
The clock struck one, 
The mouse ran down. 
Hickory, dickory, dock. 
But there is another advantage in this variation of 
stress. The accent is taken off the unimiwrtant words, 
and falls, therefore, the more heavily on the impor- 
tant words. Tims they are made to stand out, not only 
by tlieir meaning, but by their sound. Test any pas- 
sage in these poems, and you will find this to be true. 
What should a high school student make of these 
pooms? He need hardly expect to see in them as yet 
On the '^^^ ^'^'^^ Tennyson meant, or all that trained 

TeTyln '"'"^^''^ ^^ «^^^^'^' P^oplc scc. If he derives 
pleasure from the use of his imaqination 
and of his thiidving powers, and if he is willinjr to 



INTRODUCTION 19 

take the pains to read carefully and thoughtfully, lie 
may fairly expect to find in reading them an ample 
reward in pleasure of a high order. If he is unwilling 
to use his mind, he cannot expect to get much pleasure 
out of his reading, either in this book or in most others 
that belong to what is called good literature. The 
great poets and prose writers have not written for 
the sluggish reader ; they have preferred to address 
a more deserving audience. Are they not justified ? 

Tennyson is a poet for the young as well as for 
the old. He has given deep pleasure to thousands of 
boys and girls in their " teens." The way to acquire 
such pleasure in poetry is to read poetry ; the way to 
increase it is to read more poetry. It would be well 
for readers of this volume to extend their knowledge 
of the Idylls by reading also, Geraint and Enid^ 
The Holy Grail, and Guinevere. These are not hard 
reading, and they are full of beautiful passages. A 
list of the other good things In Tennyson would be 
too long to give. But here is a partial list, chosen for 
beauty and simplicity : — 

Mariana The Eagle 

The Lady of Shalott Break, break, break 

The Miller's Daughter The Charge of the Light 
Lady Clara Vere de Vere Brigade 

The Lotos Eaters Enoch Arden 

Choric Song The Revenge 

jDora The Defence of Lucknow 

I The Talking Oak Tlie Northern Farmer 

I Ulysses The Spinster's Sweet-' Arts 

;The Day Dream Owd Roa 

Sir Galahad Merlin and the Gleam 

Lady Clare Crossing the Bar 



A BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The Arthurian Legends 

Elsdalp, Henry. Studies in the Idylls, 

Lang, Andrew. Tennyson. 

Lawrence, W. W. Medieval Stories. 

Littledale, Harold. Studies in the Idylls, 

Maccallum, M. W. Tennyson's Idylls. 

Ehys, John. Studies in the Arthurian Legend, 
Life of Tennyson 

Gary, E. L. Tennyson^ His Homes^ etc. 

Hinchman and Gummere. Lives of Great Writers* 

Lang, Andrew. Tennyson. 

Lyall, Herbert. Tennyson. 

Stephen, Leslie. Studies of a Biographer, vol. ii. 

Tennyson, llallam. Memoirs of Tennyson. 

Walters, J. C. In Tennyson Land. 

Waugh, Arthur. Alfred, Lord Tennyson. 

World's Best Literature. Article on Tennyson, 

vol. XXIV. 

Criticism of Tennyson 

Brooke, Stopford A. Tennyson, His Art, etc. 
Chesterton, G. K. Varied Types. 
Dowden, Edward. Studies in Literature. 
Gates, W. E. Studies and Appreciations. 
Harrison, Frederic. Tennyson and Other Literary 

Estimates. 
Hutton, R. H. Essays, Literary. 
James, Henry. Views and Reviews. 
^oel, Roden. Essays on Poetry and Poets. 
1 fuil, Herbert. Men and Letters. 
Samtsbnry, G. E. Corrected Impressions. 
Van Dyke, Henry. The Poetry of Tennyson, 



IDYLLS OF THE KING 

IN TWELVE BOOKS 

Flos Begum Arthurus. — Joseph of Exeter, 

DEDICATION 

These to His Memory — since he held them dear, 
Perchance as finding there unconsciously 
Some image of himself — I dedicate, 
I dedicate, I consecrate with tears — 
These Idylls. 

And indeed He seems to me -5 

Scarce other than my king's ideal knight, 
" Who reverenced his conscience as his king ; 
Whose glory was, redressing human wrong ; 
Who spake no slander, no, nor listen'd to it ; 
Who loved one only and who clave to her — " 10 

Her — over all whose realms to their last isle, 
Commingled with the gloom of imminent war. 
The shadow of His loss drew like eclipse, 
Darkening the world. We have lost him : he is gone : 
We know him now : all narrow jealousies 15 

Are silent ; and we see him as he moved. 
How modest, kindly, all-accomplish'd, wise, 
With what sublime repression of himself, 
And in what limits, and how tenderly ; 
Not swaying to this faction or to that ; 20 

Not making his high place the lawless perch 
Of wing'd ambitions, nor a vantage-ground 



2^ SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

For j)Ieasure ; but tliro' all this tract of years j 

AVeariiiiT the white flower of a blameless life, ^ 

Before a thousand peering littlenesses, 26 

In that fierce light which beats upon a throne, 

And blackens every blot: for where is he, 

AVlio dares foreshadow for an only son 

A lovelier life, a more unstain'd than his ? 

Or how should England dreaming of his sons 30 

IIoi)e more for these than some inheritance 

Of such a life, a heart, a mind as thine, 

Tiiou noble Father of her Kings to be. 

Laborious for her people and her poor — 

Voice in the rich dawn of an ampler day — 35 

Far-sighted sumnioner of War and Waste 

To fruitful strifes and rivalries of peace — 

Sweet nature gilded by the gracious gleam 

Of letters, dear to Science, dear to Art, 

Dear to thy land and ours, a Prince indeed, 40 

Beyond all titles, and a household name. 

Hereafter, thro' all times, Albert the Good. - 

Break not, woman \s-heart, but still endure ; 
Break not, for thou art Koyal, but endure, 
1^'membcring all the beauty of that star 45 

Which shone so close beside Thee that ye made 
One light together, but has past and leaves 
liie Crown a lonely splendor. 

, , . , May all love, 

ihs love, unseen but felt, o'ershadow Thee, 
1 he aovc of all Thy sons encompass Thee, 50 

The love of all Thy daughters cherish Th 
The love of ull Thy people comfort Thee, 
lill God s love set Thee at his side again t 



lee. 



THE COMING OF ARTHUR 

Leodogran, the King of Cameliard, 
Had one fair daughter, and none other child ; 
And she was fairest of all flesh on earth, 
Guinevere, and in her his one delight. 

For many a petty king ere Arthur came 5 

Ruled in this isle., and ever waging war 
Each upon other, wasted all the land ; 
And still from time to time the heathen host 
Swarm'd overseas, and harried what was left. 
And so there grew great tracts of wilderness, 10 

Wherein the beast was ever more and more, 
But man was less and less, till Arthur came. 
For first Aurelius lived and fought and died, 
And after him King Uther fought and died, 
But either fail'd to make the kingdom one. 15 

And after these King Arthur for a space, 
And thro' the puissance of his Table Round, 
Drew all their petty princedoms under him. 
Their king and head, and made a realm, and reignVl. 

And thus the land of Cameliard was waste, 20 

Thick with wet woods, and many a beast therein. 
And none or few to scare or chase the beast ; 
So that wild dog, and wolf and boar and bear 
Came night and day, and rooted in the fields, 
And wallow'd in the gardens of the King. 25 

And ever and anon the wolf would steal 
The children and devour, but now and then, 
Her own brood lost or dead, lent her first teat 



ei SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

To Iminaii sucklings ; and the children, housed 

hi her foul den, there at their meat would growl, 30 

And mock their foster-mother on four feet, 

Till, straighten'd, they grew up to wolf-like men, 

Worse than the wolves. And King Leodogran 

Groan'd for the Roman legions here again. 

And CjBsar's eagle : then his brother king, 35 

Urien, assail'd him : last a heathen horde, 

Keddening the sun with smoke and earth with blood, 

And on the spike that split the mother's heart 

Spitting the child, brake on him, till, amazed, 

He knew not whither he should turn for aid. 40 

But — for he heard of Arthur newly crown'd, 
Tho' not without an uproar made by those 
Who cried, " He is not Uther's son " — the King 
Sent to him, saying, " Arise, and help us thou ! 
For here between the man and beast we die." 45 

And Arthur yet had done no deed of arms, 
But heard the call, and came ; and Guinevere 
Stood by the castle walls to watch him pass ; 
But since he neither wore on helm or shield 
The golden symbol of his kinglihood, 50 

But rode a simple knight among his knights, 
And many of these in richer arms than he, 
She saw him not, or mark'd not, if she saw, 
One among many, tho' his face was bare. 
But Arthur, looking downward as he past, 55 

VAi the light of her eyes into his life 
Smite on the sudden, yet rode on, and pitch'd 
His tents beside the forest. Then he drave 
Thf. lieathen ; after, slew the beast, and fell'd 
I'lw forest, letting in the sun, and made 60 



THE COMING OF ARTHUR 25 

Broad pathways for the hunter and the knight 
And so return'd. 

For while he linger'd there, 
A doubt that ever smoulder'd in the hearts 
Of those great Lords and Barons of his realm 
Flash'd forth and into war : for most of these, 6 ^ 
Colleaguing with a score of petty kings, 
Made head against him, crying, "Who is he 
That he should rule us? who hath proven him 
King Uther's son ? for lo ! we look at him. 
And find nor face nor bearing, limbs nor voice, 7< 
Are like to those of Uther whom we knew. 
This is the son of Gorlois, not the King ; 
This is the son of Anton, not the King." 

And Arthur, passing thence to battle, felt 
Travail, and throes and agonies of the life, 75 

Desiring to be join'd with Guinevere ; 
And thinking as he rode, "Her father said 
That there between the man and beast they die. 
j Shall I not lift her from this land of beasts 
Up to my throne, and side by side with me ? 80 

What happiness to reign a lonely king, 
Vext — O ye stars that shudder over me, 
!0 earth that soundest hollow under me, 
i Vext with waste dreams ? for saving I be join'd 

I To her that is the fairest under heaven, 85 

I I seem as nothing in the mighty world. 
And cannot will my will, nor work my work 
Wholly, nor make myself in mine own realm 

I Victor and lord. But were I join'd with her, 

jThen might we live together as one life, 90 

'And reigning with one will in everything 



20 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Have power on this dark land to lighten it, 
And power on this dead world to make it live." 

Thereafter — as he speaks who tells the tale — 
A\'hen Artliiir reach'd a field-of-battle bright 95 

With pitc'h'd pavilions of his foe, the world 
AVas all so clear about him, that he saw 
The smallest rock far on the faintest hill, 
And even in high day the morning star. 
So when the King had set his banner broad, 100 

At once from either side, with trumpet-blast, 
And shouts, and clarions shrilling unto blood, 
The long-lanced battle let their horses run. 
And now the Barons and the kings prevaiFd, 
And now the. King, as here and there that war 105 
\Wut swaying ; but the Powers who walk the world 
Made lightnings and great thunders over him, 
And dazed all eyes, till Arthur by main might, 
And miglitier of his hands with every blow. 
And leading all his knighthood threw the kings 110 
Carados, Urien, Cradlemont of Wales, 
Claudius, and Clariance of Northumberland, 
The King Brandagoras of Latangor, 
Witli Anguisant of Erin, Morganore, 
And Lot of Orkney. Then, before a voice 115 

As dreadful as the shout of one who sees 
To one who sins, and deems himself alone 
And iill the world asleep, they swerved and brake 
Flying, and Arthur call'd to stay the brands 
That hack'd among the flyers, " Ho ! they yield I *' 120 
So like a painted battle tlie war stood 
Silenced, the living quiet as the dead, 
And in the heart of Arthur joy was lord. 
He luughM upon his warrior whom he loved 



THE COMING OF AKTHUR 27 

And honor'd most. " Thou dost not doubt me King\ 125 

So well thine arm hath wrought for me to-day." 

" Sir and my liege," he cried, " the fire of God 

Descends upon thee in the battle-field : 

I know thee for my King ! " Whereat the two, 

For each had warded either in the fight, 130 

Sware on the field of death a deathless love. 

And Arthur said, " Man's word is God in man : 

Let chance what will, I trust thee to the death." 

Then quickly from the foughten field he sent 
Ulfius, and Brastias, and Bedivere, 135 

His new-made knights, to King Leodogran, 
Saying, " If I in aught have served thee well, 
Give me thy daughter Guinevere to wife." 

Whom when lie heard, Leodogran in heart 
Debating — " How should I that am a king, 14C 

However much he holp me at my need. 
Give my one daughter saving to a king. 
And a king's son?" — lifted his voice, and call'd 
A hoary man, his chamberlain, to whom 
He trusted all things, and of him required 145 

His counsel : " Knowest thou aught of Arthur's 
birth?" 

Then spake the hoary chamberlain and said, 
" Sir King, there be but two old men that know : 
And each is twice as old as I ; and one 
Is Merlin, the wise man that ever served 150 

King Uther thro' his magic art ; and one 
Is Merlin's master (so they call him) Bleys, 
Who taught him magic ; but the scliolar ran 
Before the master, and so far, that Bleys 



28 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Laid magic by, and sat him down, and wrote 155 

All things and whatsoever Merlin did 

In one great annal-book, where after-years 

W"i\\ learn the secret of our Arthur's birth." 

To whom the King Leodogran replied, 
" O friend, had I been holpen half as well 160 

By this King Arthur as by thee to-day, 
Then beast and man had had their share of me : 
But summon here before us yet once more 
Ulfius, and Brastias, and Bedivere." 

Then, when they came before him, the King said, 165 
*' I have seen the cuckoo chased by lesser fowl, 
And reason in the chase : but wherefore now 
Do these your lords stir up the heat of war, 
Some calling Arthur born of Gorlois, 
Others of iVnton? Tell me, ye yourselves, 170 

Hold ye this Arthur for King Uther's son ? " 

And Ulfius and Brastias answer'd, "Ay." 
Then Bedivere, the first of all his knights 
Kniglited by Arthur at his crowning, spake — 
For bold in heart and act and word was he, 175 

Whenever slander breathed against the King — 

" Sir, there be many rumors on this head : 
For there be those who hate him in their hearts, 
Call him baseborn, and since his ways are sweet, 
And theirs are bestial, hold him less than man : 180 
And there be those who deem him more than man. 
And dream he dio]it from heaven : but my belief 
In all this matter — so ye care to learn — 
Sir, for ye know that in King Uther's time 



THE COMING OF ARTHUR 29 

The prince and warrior Gorlois, he that held 185 

Tintagil castle by the Cornish sea, 

Was wedded with a winsome wife, Ygerne : 

And daughters had she borne him, — one whereof, 

Lot's wife, the Queen of Orkney, Bellicent, 

Hath ever like a loyal sister cleaved 190 

To Arthur, — but a son she had not borne. 

And Uther cast upon her eyes of love : 

But she, a stainless wife to Gorlois, 

So loathed the bright dishonor of his love, 

That Gorlois and King Uther went to war : 195 

And overthrown was Gorlois and slain. 

Then Uther in his wrath and heat besieged 

Ygerne within Tintagil, where her men. 

Seeing the mighty swarm about their walls, 

Left her and fled, and Uther entered in, 200 

And there was none to call to but himself. 

So, compass'd by the power of the King, 

Enforced she was to wed him in her tears. 

And with a shameful swiftness : afterward. 

Not many moons. King Uther died himself, 205 

Moaning and wailing for an heir to rule 

After him, lest the realm should go to wrack. 

And that same night, the night of the new year. 

By reason of the bitterness and grief 

That vext his mother, all before his time 210 

Was Arthur born, and all as soon as born 

Deliver'd at a secret postern-gate 

To Merlin, to be holden far apart 

Until his hour should come ; because the lords 

Of that fierce day were as the lords of this, 215 

Wild beasts, and surely would have torn the child 

Piecemeal among them, had they known ; for each 

But sought to rule for his own self and hand, 



30 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

And manj hated Uther for the sake 

Of Goilois. Wherefore Merlin took the child, 220 

And gave him to Sir Anton, an old knight 

An ancient friend of Uther; and his wife 

Nursed the young prince, and reared him with her own ; 

And no man knew. And ever since the lords 

Have foughten like wild beasts among themselves, 225 

So that the realm has gone to wrack : but now, 

This year, when Merlin (for his hour had come) 

Brought Arthnr forth, and set him in the hall. 

Proclaiming, ' Here is Uther's heir, your king,' 

A hundred voices cried, ' Away with him ! 230 

No king of ours ! a son of Gorlois he. 

Or else the child of Anton, and no king. 

Or else baseborn.' Yet Merlin thro' his craft, 

And while the people chimor'd for a king, 

Had Arthur crown'd: but after, the great lords 235 

Banded, and so brake out in open war." 

Then while the King debated with himself 
If Arthur were the child of shamefulness. 
Or born the son of Gorlois, after death, 
Or Uther*s son, and born before his time, 240 

Or whether there were truth in anything 
Said by these three, there came to Cameliard, 
With Gawain and young Modred, her two sons, 
Lot's wife, the Queen of Orkney, Bellicent; 
Whom as he couUl, not as he would, the King 245 
Made feast for, saying, as they sat at meat, 

" A doubtful throne is ice on summer seas. 
Ye come from Arthur's court. Victor his men 
Krport him ! Yea, but ye — think ye this king — 
So many those that hate him, and so strong, 250 



THE COMING OF ARTHUR 31 

So few his knights, however brave they be — 
Hath body enow to hold his foemen down ? " 

" O King," she cried, " and I will tell thee : few, 
Few, but all brave, all of one mind with him ; 
For I was near him when the savage yells 255 

Of Uther's peerage died, and Arthur sat 
Crown'd on the dais, and his warriors cried, 
*Be thou the king, and we will work thy will 
Who love thee.' Then the King in low deep tones, 
And simple words of great authority, 2G0 

Bound them by so strait vows to his own self, 
That when they rose, knighted from kneeling, some 
Were pale as at the passing of a ghost, 
Some flush'd, and others dazed, as one who wakes 
Half-blinded at the coming of a light. 2G5 

i 

" But when he spake and cheer'd his Table Round 
With large, divine, and comfortable words, 
Beyond my tongue to tell thee — I beheld 
From eye to eye thro' all their Order flash 
A momentary likeness of the King : 270 

' And ere it left their faces, thro' the cross 
I And those around it and the Crucified, 
I Down from the casement over Arthur, smote 
, Flame-color, vert and azure, in three rays, 
I One falling upon each of three fair queens, 276 

Who stood in silence near his throne, the friends 
Of Arthur, gazing on him, tall, with bright 
I Sweet faces, who will help him at his need. 

" And there I saw mage Merlin, whose vast wit 
And hundred winters are but as the hands 280 

Of loyal vassals toiling for their liege. 



32 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

" And near him stood the Lady of the Lake, 
Who knows a subtler magic than his own — 
Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful. 
She gave the King his huge cross-hilted sword, 285 
Whereby to drive the heathen out : a mist 
Of incense curl'd about her, and her face 
Wellnigh was hidden in the minster gloom ; 
But there was heard among the holy hymns 
A voice as of the waters, for she dwells 290 

Down in a deep ; calm, whatsoever storms 
May shake the world, and when the surface rolls, 
Hath power to walk the waters like our Lord. 

" There likewise I beheld Excalibur 
Before him at his crowning borne, the sword 295 

That rose from out the bosom of the lake, 
And Arthur row'd across and took it — rich 
With jewels, elfin Urim, on the hilt. 
Bewildering heart and eye — the blade so bright 
That men are blinded by it — on one side, 300 

Graven in the oldest tongue of all this world, 
' Take me,' but turn the blade and ye shall see, 
And written in the speech ye speak yourself, 
' Cast me away ! ' And sad was Arthur's face 
Taking it, but old Merlin counsell'd him, 305 

* Take thou and strike ! the time to cast away 
Is yet far-off.' So this great brand the king 
Took, and by this will beat his foemen down." 

Thereat Leodogran rejoiced, but thought 
To sift his doubtings to the last, and ask'd, 310 

Fixing full eyes of question on her face, 
" The swallow and the swift are near akin. 
But thou art closer to this noble prince, 



THE COMING OF ARTHUR 33 

and she said, 

*' Daughter of Goilois and Ygerne am I " ; 315 

" And therefore Arthur's sister ? " ask'd the King. 
She answer'd, ''These be secret things," and sign'd 
To those two sons to pass and let them be. 
And Gawain went, and breaking into song 
Sprang out, and follow'd by his flying hair 320 

Ran like a colt, and leapt at all he saw : 
But Modred laid his ear beside the doors, 
And there half-heard ; the same that afterward 
Struck for the throne, and striking found his doom. 

And then the Queen made answer, " What know I ? 
For dark my mother was in eyes and hair, 326 

And dark in hair and eyes am I ; and dark 
Was Gorloi's, yea and dark was Uther too, 
Wellnigh to blackness ; but this King is fair 
Beyond the race of Britons and of men. 330 

Moreover, always in my mind I hear 
A cry from out the dawning of my life, 
A mother weeping, and I hear her say, 
' O that ye had some brother, pretty one, 
To guard thee on the rough ways of the world.' " 335 

" Ay," said the King, " and hear ye such a cry ? 
But when did Arthur chance upon thee first ? " 

" O King ! " she cried, '* and I will tell thee true : 
He found me first when yet a little maid: 
Beaten I had been for a little fault 340 

Whereof I was not guilty ; and out I ran 
And flung myself down on a bank of heath, 
And hated this fair world and all tlierein. 
And wept, and wish'd that I were dead ; and he — 



^\ 



SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 



I kiKnv not whether of himself he came, 345 

Or broujrht by Merlin, who, they say, can walk 

Unseen at pleasure — he was at my side, 

And spake sweet words, and comforted my heart, 

And dried my tears, being a child with me. 

And many a time he came, and evermore 360 

As 1 «'-rew greater grew with me ; and sad 

At times he seem'd, and sad with him was I, 

Stern too at times, and then I loved him not, 

But sweet again, and then I loved him welL 

And now of late I see him less and less, 355 

But tliose first days had golden honrs for me, 

For then I surely thought he would be king. 

" But let me tell thee now another tale : 
For Bleys, our Merlin's master, as they say. 
Died but of late, and sent his cry to me, 360 

To hear him speak before he left his life. 
Shrunk like a fairy changeling lay the mage ; 
And when I enter'd told me that himself 
And Merlin ever served about the Kinjr, 
Uther, before he died ; and on the night 365 

When Uther in Tintagil past away 
Moaning and wailing for an heir, tlie two 
Left tlie still King, and passing forth to breathe, 
Then from the castle gateway by the chasm 
Descending thro' the dismal night — a night 370 

In which the bonnds of heaven and earth were lost — 
Beheld, so high upon the dreary dee])s 
It seem'd in lieaven, a ship, the shape thereof 
A dragon wing'<1, and all from stem to stern 
Bright with a sliining people on the decks, 375 

And gone as soon as seen. And then the two 
Diopt to the cove, and watch'd the great sea fall, 



THE COMING OF ARTHUR 35 

Wave after wave, each mightier than the last, 

Till last, a ninth one, gathering half the deep 

And full of voices, slowly rose and plunged 380 

Roaring, and all the wave was in a flame : 

And down the wave and in the flame was borne 

A naked babe, and rode to Merlin's feet, 

Who stoopt and caught the babe, and cried ' The 

King ! 
Here is an heir for Uther ! ' And the frinsre 385 

Of that great breaker, sweeping up the strand, 
Lash'd at the wizard as he spake the word, 
And all at once all round him rose in fire. 
So that the child and he were clothed in fire. 
And presently thereafter follow'd calm, 390 

Free sky and stars : 'And this same child,' he said, 
' Is he who reigns ; nor could I part in peace 
Till this were told.' And saying this the seer 
Went thro' the strait and dreadful pass of death, 
Not ever to be question'd any more 395 

Save on the further side; but when I met 
Merlin, and ask'd him if these things were truth — • 
The shining dragon and the naked child 
Descending in the glory of the seas — 
He langh'd as is his wont, and answer'd me 400 

In riddling triplets of old time, and said : 

" ' Rain, rain, and sun ! a rainbow in thie sky! 
A young man will be wiser by and by ; 
An old man's wit may wander ere he die. 

" ' Rain, rain, and sun ! a rainbow on the lea! 405 
And truth is this to me, and that to thee ; 
And truth or clothed or naked let it be. 



SG SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

*"Kain,sun,an(l rain! and the free blossom blows : 
Sim, rain,'and sun ! and where is he who knows? 
From the great deep to the great deep he goes,' 410 

*' So Merlin riddling anger'd me ; but thou 
Fear not to give this King thine only child, 
Guinevere: so great bards of him will sing 
Hereafter ; and dark sayings from of old 
Ranging and ringing thro' the minds of men, 415 
And echo'd by old folk beside their fires 
For comfort after their wage-work is done, 
Speak of the King ; and Merlin in our time 
Hath spoken also, not in jest, and sworn 
Tho' men may wound him that he will not die, 420 
But pass, again to come ; and then or now 
Utterly smite the heathen underfoot, ^ 

Till these and all men hail him for their king.'* 

She spake and King Leodogran rejoiced, 
But musing " Shall I answer yea or nay ? " 425 

Doubted, and drowsed, nodded and slept, and saw, 
Dreaming, a slope of land that ever grew. 
Field after field, up to a height, the peak 
Haze-hidden, and thereon a phantom king, 
Now looming, and now lost ; and on the slope 430 
The sword rose, the hind fell, the herd was driven. 
Fire glimpsed ; and all the laud from roof and rick. 
In drifts of smoke before a rolling wind, 
Stream'd to the peak, and mingled with the haze 
And made it thicker ; while the phantom king 435 
Sent out at times a voice; and here or there 
Stood one who pointed toward the voice, the rest 
Slew on and burnt, crying, " No king of ours. 
No son of Uther, and no king of ours " ; 



THE COMING OF ARTHUR 37 

Till with a wink his dream was changed, the haze 440 

Descended, and the solid earth became 

As nothing, but the King stood out in heaven, 

Crown'd. And Leodogran awoke, and sent 

Ulfius, and Brastias, and Bedivere 

Back to the court of Arthur answering yea. 445 

Then Arthur charged his warrior whom he loved 
And honor'd most, Sir Lancelot, to ride forth 
And bring the Queen ; — and watch'd him from the 

gates : 
And Lancelot past away among the flowers, 
(For then was latter April) and return'd 450 

Among the flowers, in May, with Guinevere. 
To whom arrived, by Dubric the high saint, 
Chief of the church in Britain, and before 
The stateliest of her altar-shrines, the King 
That morn was married, while in stainless white, 455 
The fair beginners of a nobler time. 
And glorying in their vows and him, his knights 
Stood round him, and rejoicing in his joy. 
Far shone the fields of May thro' open door, 
The sacred altar blossom'd white with May, 460 

The Sun of May descended on their King, 
They gazed on all earth's beauty in their Queen, 
Roll'd incense, and there past along the hymns 
A voice as of the waters, while the two 
Svvare at the shrine of Christ a deathless love : 465 
And Arthur said, '' Behold, thy doom is mine. 
j Let chance what will, 1 love tliee to the death ! " 
I To whom the Queen replied with drooping eyes, 
" King and my lord, I love thee to the death ! " 
And holy Dubric spread his hands and spake, 470 
*' Reign ye, and live and love, and make the world 



38 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Other, and may thy Queen be one with thee, 
And all this Order of thy Table Round 
Fulfil the boundless purpose of their King ! " 

So Dubric said ; but when they left the shrine 475 
Great Lords from Rome before the portal stood, 
In scornful stillness gazing- as they past ; 
Tlien while they paced a city all on fire 
Witli sun and cloth of gold, the trumpets blew, 
And Arthur's knighthood sang before the King: — 480 

" Blow trumpet, for the world is white with May; 
Blow trumpet, the long night hath roll'd away ! 
Blow thro' the living world — ' Let the King reign.' 

"Shall Rome or Heathen rule in Arthur's realm? 
Flasli brand and lance, fall battleaxe upon helm, 485 
Fall battleaxe, and flash brand ! Let the King reign. 

" Strike for the King and live ! his knights have heard 
That (iod hath told the King a secret word. 
Fall battleaxe, and flasli brand I Let the King reign, 

" Blow trumpet! he will lift ns from the dust. 490 
Blow trumpet ! live the strength and die the lust ! 
Clang battleaxe, and clash brand ! Let the King reign. 

'' Strike for the King and die ! and if thou diest, 
The King is King, and ever wills the highest. 
Clang battleaxe, and clash brand ! Let the King reign. 

" Blow, for our Sun is mighty in his May ! 496 

Blow, for our Sun is mightier day by day ! 
Clang battleaxe, and clash brand ! Let the King reign. 



THE COMING OF ARTHUR 39 

" The King will follow Christ, and we the King- 
In whom high God hath breathed a secret thing. 500 
Fall battleaxe, and flash brand ! Let the King reign." 

So sang the knighthood, moving to their hall. 
There at the banquet those great Lords from Rome, 
The slow-fading mistress of the world. 
Strode in, and claim'd their tribute as of yore. 505 
But Arthur spake, " Behold, for these have sworn 
To wage my wars, and worship me their King ; 
The old order changeth, yielding place to new ; 
And we that fight for our fair father Christ, 
Seeing that ye be grown too weak and old 510 

To drive the heathen from your Roman wall, 
No tribute will we pay " : so those great lords 
Drew back in wrath, and Arthur strove with Rome. 

And Arthnr and his knighthood for a space 
Were all one will, and thro' that strength the King 515 
Drew in the petty princedoms under him, 
Fonght, and in twelve great battles overcame 
The heathen hordes, and made a realm and reign'd. 




GARETH AND LYNETTE 

The last tall son of Lot and Bellicent, 

And tallest, Gareth, in a showerful spring 

Stared at the spate. A slender-shafted pine 

Lost footing, fell, and so was whirFd away. 

" How he went down," said Gareth, " as afalse knight 5 

Or evil king before my lance, if lance 

Were mine to use — O senseless cataract, 

Bearing all down in thy precipitancy — 

And yet thou art but swollen with cold snows 

And mine is living blood : thou dost His will, 10 

The Maker's, and not knowest, and I that know, 

Have strength and wit, in my good mother's h.dl 

Linger with vacillating obedience, 

PrisonM, and kept and coax'd and whistled to — 

Since the ^ood mother holds me still a child ! 15 

Good mother is bad mother unto me ! 

A worse were better; yet no worse would I. 

Heaven yield her for it, but in me put force 

To weary her ears with one continuous prayer. 

Until she let me fly discaged to sweep 20 

In ever-highering eagle-circles up 

To the great Sun of Glory, and thence swoop 

Down uj)on all things base, and dash them dead, 

A knight of Arthur, working out his will. 

To cleanse the world. Why, Gawain, when he came 25 

With Modred hither in the summer-time, 

Ask'd me to tilt with him, tlie proven knight. 

Modred for want of worthier was the judge. 

Then I so shook liim in the saddle, he said, 

* Tiiou hast half prevaiFd against me,' said so — he — 30 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 41 

Tho* Modred biting his thin lips was mute, 
For he is alway sullen: what care I ? " 

And Gareth went, and hovering round her chair 
Ask'd, " Mother, tho' ye count me still the child, 
Sweet mother do ye love the child ? " She laugh'd, 35 
" Thou art but a wild-goose to question it." 
" Then, mother, an ye love the child," he said, 
" Being a goose, and rather tame than wild, 
Hear the child's story." " Yea, my well-beloved. 
An 't were but of the goose and golden eggs." 40 

And Gareth answer'd her with kindling eyes : 
" Nay, nay, good mother, but this egg of mine 
Was finer gold than any goose can lay ; 
For this an eagle, a royal eagle, laid 
Almost beyond eye-reach, on suck a palm 45 

As glitters gilded in thy Book of Hours. 
And there was ever haunting round the palm 
A lusty youth, but poor, who often SctW 
The splendor sparkling from aloft, and thought, 
'An I could cliuib and lay ray hand upon it, 50 

Then were I wealthier than a leash of kings.' 
But ever when he reach'd a hand to climb. 
One that had loved him from his childhood caught 
And stay'd him, ' Climb not lest thou break thy neck, 
I charge thee by my love,' and so the boy, 55 

Sweet mother, neither clomb nor brake his neck, 
But brake his very h 'art in pining for it, 
And past away." 

To whom the mother said, 
"True love, sweet son, had risk'd himself and climb'd. 
And handed down the golden treasure to him." 60 



40 SELECTED ID\XLS OF THE IvING 

And Gareth answer'd her with kindling eyes: 
** Gold'> said I gold ?^ ay then, why he, or she, 
Or wliosoe'er it was, or half the world 
Hid ventured — /^r/J the thing I spake of been 
Mere gold — but this was all of that true steel 
Wlu'r^of thev forged the brand Excalibur, 
And lightnings play'd about it in the storm, 
And afl the little fowl were flurried at it, 
And there were cries and clashings in the nest, 
That sent him from his senses: let me go." 

Then Bellicent bemoan'd herself and said, 
»*llast thou no pity upon my loneliness? 
Lo, where thy father Lot beside the hearth 
Lies like a log, and all but smoulder'd out ! 
For ever since when traitor to the King 
He fought against liim in the barons' war. 
And Arthur gave him back his territory, 
His age liath slowly droopt, and now lies there 
A yet-warm corpse, and yet unburiable. 
No more ; nor sees, nor hears, nor speaks, nor knows, 
And both thy brethren are in Arthur's hall, 
Alheit neither loved with that full love 
I feel for thee, nor worthy such a love. 
Stay therefore thou ; red berries charm the bird, 
And thee, mine innocent, the jousts, the wars. 
Who never k newest finger-aclie, nor pang 
Of wrenchM or broken limb — an often chance 
In those brain-stunning shocks, and tourney-fall -=5, 
Frights to my heart; but stay: follow the deer 
Hy these tall firs and our fast-falling burns ; 
So make thy manhood mightier day by day ; 
Sweet is the chase: and I will seek thee out 
Some comfortable bride and fair, to grace 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 43 

Thy climbing life, and cherish my prone year, 

Till falling into Lot's forgetfulness 96 

I know not thee, myself, nor anything. 

Stay, my best son! ye are yet more boy than man." 

Then Garetli : "An ye hold me yet for child. 
Hear yet once more the story of the child. 
For, mother, there was once a king, like ours. 100 
The prince his heir, when tall and marriageable, 
Ask'd for a bride ; and thereupon tlie king 
Set two before him. One was fair, strong, arm'd — 
But to be won by force — and many men 
Desired her; one, good lack, no man desired. 105 

And these were the conditions of the king : 
That save he won the first by force, he needs 
Must wed that other, whom no man desired, 
A red-faced bride who knew herself so vile 
That evermore she long'd to hide herself, 110 

Nor fronted man or woman, eye to eye — 
Yea — some she cleaved to, but they died of her. 
And one — they call'd her Fame ; and one — O 

mother. 
How can ye keep me tether \1 to you? — Shame. 
Man am I grown, a man's work must I do. 115 

Follow the deer ? follow the Christ, the King, 
Live pure, speak true, right wrong, follow the King — 
Else, wherefore born ? " 

To whom the mother said : 
** Sweet son, for there be many who deem him not. 
Or will not deem him, wholly proven King — 120 
Albeit in mine own heart I knew liim King 
When I was frequent with him in my youth. 
And heard him kingly speak, and doubted him 



44 SELECTED ID\XLS OF THE KING 

No more than he, himself ; but felt him mine, 

Of closest kin to me : yet — wilt thou leave 125 

Tlilne easeful biding here, and risk thine all, 

Life, limbs, for one that is not proven King? 

Stay, till tlie elond that settles round his birth 

Hath lifted I)ut a little. Stay, sweet son." 

And Gareth answer'd quickly : " Not an hour, 130 
So that ye yield me — I will walk thro' fire, 
Mother, to gain it — your full leave to go. 
Not proven, who swept the dust of ruin'd Rome 
From off the thresliold of the realm, and crush'd 
The idolaters, and made the people free ? 135 

Who should be king save him who makes us free ? " 

So when the Queen, who long had sought in vain 
To break him from the intent to which he grew, 
Found her son's will unwaveringly one. 
She answer'd craftily : " Will ye walk thro' fire ? 140 
Who walks thro' fire will hardly heed the smoke. 
Ay, go then, an ye must : only one proof. 
Before thou ask the King to make thee knight. 
Of thine obedience and thy love to me. 
Thy mother, — I demand." 

And Gareth cried : 145 
'' A hard one, or a hundred, so I go. 
Nay — quitik ! the proof to prove me to the quick ! " 

iiut slowly spake the mother looking at him : 

'' Prince, thou shalt go disguised to Arthur's hall, 

And hire thyself to serve for meats and drinks 150 

Among the scullions and the kitchen-knaves, 

And those that hand the dish across the bar. 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 45 

Nor shalt thou tell thy name to any one. 

And thou shalt serve a twelvemonth and a day." 

For so the Queen believed that when her son 155 
Beheld his only way to glory lead 
Low down thro' villain kitchen-vassalage, 
Her own true Gareth was too princely-proud 
To pass thereby ; so should he rest with her, 
Closed in her castle from the sound of arms. 160 

Silent awhile was Gareth, then replied : 
" The thrall in person may be free in soul, 
And I shall see the jousts. Thy son am I, 
And, since thou art my mother, must obey. 
I therefore yield me freely to thy will ; 165 

For hence will I, disguised, and hire myself 
To serve with scullions and with kitchen-knaves ; 
Nor tell my name to any — no, not the King." 

Gareth awhile linger'd. The mother's eye 
Full of the wistful fear that he would go, 170 

And turning toward him wheresoe'er he turn'd, 
Perplext his outward purpose, till an hour 
When, waken'd by the wind which with full voice 
Swept bellowing thro' the darkness on to dawn. 
He rose, and out of slumber calling two 175 

That still had tended on him from his birth. 
Before the wakeful mother heard him, went. 

The three were clad like tillers of the soil. 
Southward they set their faces. The birds made 
Melody on branch and melody in mid air. 180 

The damp hill-slopes were quicken'd into green. 
And the live green had kindled into flowers, 
For it was past the time of Easter-day. 



4G SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

So, when their feet were planted on the plain 
That broatlen'd toward the base of Camelot, 185 

Far off tliey saw the silver-misty morn 
Rolling her smoke about the royal mount, 
That rose between the forest and the field. 
At times tlie summit of the high city flash'd ; 
At times the spires and turrets half-way down 190 
Prick'd thro' the mist ; at times the great gate shone 
Only, that open'd on the field below : 
Anon, the whole fair city had disappear'd. 

Then those who went witli Gareth were amazed. 
One crying, " Let us go no further, lord : 195 

Here is a city of enchanters, built 
By fairy kings." The second echo'd him, 
" Lord, we have heard from our wise man at home 
To northward, that this king is not the King, 
But only changeling out of Fairyland, 200 

Who drave the heathen hence by sorcery 
And Merlin's glamour." Then the first again, 
'' Lord, there is no such city anywhere, 
But all a vision." 



Gareth answer'd them 
With laughter, sweaiing he had glamour enow 205 
In his own blood, his princedom, youth, and hopes 
To plunge old Merlin in the Arabian sea; 
So ])ushM them all unwilling toward the gate. 
And there was no gate like it under heaven. 
For baiM'foot on the k(^yRtone, which was lined 210 
And ripplfd like an ever-fleeting wave, 
The Lady of the Lake stood: all her dress 
\\ e])t from her sides as water flowing awav ; 
But like the cross her great and goodly arms 



\ 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 47 

Stretcli'cl under all the cornice and uplield : 215 

And drops of water fell from either hand; 

And down from one a sword was hung, from one 

A censer, either worn with wind and storm ; 

And o'er her breast floated the sacred fish ; 

And in the space to left of her, and right, 220 

Were Arthur's wars in weird devices done, 

New things and old co-twisted, as if Time 

Were nothing, so inveterately that men 

Were giddy gazing there ; and over all 

High on the top were those three queens, the friends 225 

.Of Arthur, who should help him at his need. 

Then those with Gareth for so long a space 
Stared at tlie figures that at last it seem'd 
The dragon-boughts and elvish emblemings 
Began to move, seethe, twine, and curl : they call'd 230 
To Gareth, "Lord, the gateway is alive." 

And Gareth likewise on them fixt his eyes 
So long that even to him they seem'd to move. 
Out of the city a blast of music peal'd. 
Back from the gate started the three, to whom 235 
From out thereunder came an ancient man. 
Long-bearded, saying, "Who be*ye, my sons?" 

Then Gareth : " We be tillers of the soil. 
Who leaving share in furrow come to see 
The glories of our King : but these, my men, — 240 
Your city moved so weirdly in the mist — 
Doubt if the King be king at all, or come 
From Fairyland ; and whether this be built 
By magic, and by fairy kings and queens ; 
Or whether there be any city at all, 245 



48 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Or nil a vision : and this music now 

Hath scared tiieni both, but tell thou these the truth." 

Then that old Seer made answer, playing on him 
And saying: "Son, I have seen the good ship sail 
Kei'l upward, and mast downward, in the heavens. 250 
And solid turrets topsy-turvy in the air: 
And here is truth ; but an it please thee not. 
Take thou the truth as thou hast told it me. 
For truly, as thou sayest, a fairy king 
And fairy queens have built the city, son ; 255 

They eanie from out a sacred mountain cleft 
Toward the sunrise, each with harp in hand, 
And built it to the music of their harps. 
And, as thou sayest, it is enchanted, son, 
For there is nothing in it as it seems 
Saving the King; tho' some there be that hold 
The King a shadow, and the city real: 
Yet take thou heed of him, for, so thou pass 
Beneath this archway, then wilt thou become 
A thrall to his enchantments, for the King 
"Will bind thee by such vows as is a shame 
A man should not be bound by, yet the which 
No man can keep; but, so thou dread to swear 
Pass not beneath this? gateway, but abide 
Without, among the cattle of the field. 
For an ye heard a music, like enow 
They are building still, seeing the city is built 
To music, therefore never built at all. 
And therefore built for ever." 

Gareth spake 
Anger'd : " Old master, reverence thine own beard 275 
That looks as white as utter truth, and seems 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 49 

Wellnigh as long as thou art statured tall ! 
Why mockest thou the stranger that hath been 
To thee fair-spoken ? *' 
( 

But the Seer replied: 
!"Know ye not then the Riddling of the Bards: 280 
'Confusion, and illusion, and relation. 
Elusion, and occasion, and evasion?' 
I mock thee not but as thou mockest me. 
And all that see thee, for thou art not who 
Thou seeniest, but I know thee who thou art. 285 

And now thou goest up to mock the King, 
Who cannot brook the shadow of any lie." 

' Unmockingly the mocker ending here 

'Turn'd to the right, and past along the plain; 

j Whom Gareth looking after said ; " My men, 290 
Our one white lie sits like a little ghost 
Here on the threshold of our enterprise. 
Let love be blamed for it, not she, nor I: 

iWell, we will make amends." 

With all good cheer 
He spake and laugh'd, then enter 'd with his twain 295 
Camelot, a city of shadowy palaces 
And stately, rich in emblem and the work 
:' Of ancient kings who did their days in stone ; 
I Which Merlin's hand, the Mage at Arthur's court. 
Knowing all arts, had touch'd, and everywhere, 300 
At Arthur's ordinance, tipt with lessening peak 
And pinnacle, and had made it spire to heaven. 
I And ever and anon a knight would pass 
I Outward, or inward to the hall: his arms 
jClash'd; and the sound was good to Gareth's ear. 305 



50 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

And out of bower and casement shyly glanced 
Eyes of pure women, wholesome stars of love ; 
And all about a healthful people stept 
As in the presence of a gracious king. 

Then into hall Gareth ascending heard 310 

A voice, the voice of Arthur, and beheld 
Far over heads in that long-vaulted hall 
The splendor of the presence of the King 
Throned, and delivering doom — and looked no 

more — 
But felt his young heart hammering in his ears 315 
And thought, ''For this half shadow of a lie 
The truthful King will doom me when I speak." 
Yet pressing on, tho' all in fear to find 
Sir Gawain or Sir Modred, saw nor one 
Nor other, but in all tlie listening eyes 320 

Of those tall knights that ranged about the throne 
Clear honor shining like the dewy star 
Of dawn, and faith in their great King, with pure 
Affection, and the light of victory. 
And glory gain'd, and evermore to gain. 325 

Then came a widow crying to the King : 
"A boon, Sir King? Thy father, Uther, reft 
From my dead lord a field with violence ; 
For howsoe'er at first he profPer'd gold. 
Yet, for the field was pleasant in our eyes, 330 

We yielded not, and then he reft us of it 
Perforce and left us neither gold nor field." 

Said Arthur, " Whether would ye? gold or field?" 
To whom the woman weeping, " Nay, my lord, 
The field was pleasant in my husband's eye." 335 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 51 

And Arthur : " Have thy pleasant field agam, 
And thrice the gold for Utlier's use thereof, 
According to the years. No boon is here, 
But justice, so thy say be proven true. 
Accursed, who from the wrongs liis father did 340 
I Would shape himself a right ! " 

And while she past, 
Came yet another widow crying to him : 
"A boon, Sir King! Thine enemy. King, am I. 
With thine own hand thou slewest my dear lord, 
A knio'ht of Uther in the barons' war, 345 

When Lot and many another rose and fought 
Against thee, saying thou wert basely born. 
I held with these, and loatlie to ask thee aught. 
Yet lo ! my husband's brother had my son 
Thrall'd in his castle, and hath starved him dead, 350 
And standeth seized of tliat inheritance 
Which thou that slewest the sire hast left the eon. 
So, tho' I scarce can ask it thee for hate. 
Grant me some knight to do the battle for me, 
Kill the foul thief, and wreak me for my son." 355 

I Then strode a good knight forward, crying to him, 

"A boon, Sir King! I am her kinsman, I. 

I Give me to right her wrong, and slay the man.'* 

i 

Then came Sir Kay; the seneschal, and cried, 
" A boon. Sir King ! even that thou grant her none, 360 
This railer, that hath mock'd thee in full hall — 
None; or the wholesome boon of gyve and gag." 

But Arthur : " We sit King, to help the wrong'd 
Thro' all our realm. The woman loves her lord. 



52 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Peace to thee, woman, with thy loves and hates ! 365 

The kings of old had doom'd thee to the flames ; 

Aurelius Einrys would have scourged thee dead, 

And Uther slit thy tongue: but get thee hence — 

Lest that rough humor of the kings of old 

Return upon me ! Thou that art her kin, 370 

Go likewise ; lay him low and slay him not. 

But bring him here, that I may judge the right, 

According to the justice of the King : 

Then, be he guilty, by that deathless King 

Who lived and died for men, the man shall die." 375 

Then came in hall the messenger of Mark, 
A name of evil savor in the land, 
The Cornish king. In either hand he bore 
What dazzled all, and shone far-off as shines 
A field of charlock in the sudden sun 380 

Between two showers, a cloth of palest gold. 
Which down he laid before the throne, and knelt, 
Delivering that his lord, the vassal king, 
Was ev'n upon his way to Camelot ; 
For having heard that Arthur of his grace 385 

Had made his goodly cousin Tristram knight. 
And, for himself was of the greater state. 
Being a king, he trusted his liege-lord 
Would yield him this large honor all the more; 
So pray'd him well to accept this cloth of gold, 390 
In token of true heart and fealty. 

Then Arthur cried to rend the cloth, to rend 
In pieces, and so cast it on the hearth. 
An oak-tree smoulder'd there. " The goodly knight ! 
What! shall the shield of Mark stand among 

these?" %95 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 53 

For, midway down the side of that long hall, 

A stately pile, — whereof along the front, 

Some blazon'd, some but carven, and some blank, 

There ran a treble range of stony shields, — 

Rose, and high-arching over-brow'd the hearth. 400 

I And under every shield a knight was named. 

For this was Arthur's custom in his hall : 

When some good knight had done one noble deed, 

His arms were carven only ; but if twain. 

His arms were blazon'd also ; but if none, 405 

The shield was blank and bare, without a sign 

Saving the name beneath : and Gareth saw 

The shield of Gawain blazon'd rich and bright. 

And Modred's blank as death; and Arthur cried 

To rend the cloth and cast it on the hearth. 410 

i " More like are we to reave him of his crown 

i Than make him knight because men call him king. 
The kings we found, ye know we stay'd their 

hands 
From war among themselves, but left them kings; 
Of whom were any bounteous, merciful, 415 

Truth-speaking, brave, good livers, them we enroU'd 

I Among us, and they sit within our hall. 
But Mark hath tarnish'd the great name of king, 
As Mark would sully the low state of churl; 

i And, seeing he hath sent us cloth of gold, 420 

Return, and meet, and hold him from our eyes, 
Lest we should lap him up in cloth of lead. 
Silenced for ever — craven — a man of plots. 
Craft, poisonous counsels, wayside ambushings — 
No fault of thine: let Kay the seneschal 425 

Look to thy wants, and send thee satisfied — 
Accursed, who strikes nor lets the hand be seen I '* 



54 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

And many another suppliant crying came 
With noisG of ravage wrought by beast and man, 
And evermore a knight would ride away. 430 

Last, Gareth leaning both hands heavily 
Down on the shoulders of the twain, his men, 
Approach'd between them toward the King, and ask'd, 
"A boon, Sir King," — his voice was all ashamed,-^ 
**For see ye not how weak and hunger- worn 435 

I seem — leaning on these? grant me to serve 
For meat and drink among thy kitchen-knaves 
A twelvemonth and a day, nor seek my name. 
Hereafter I will fight." 

To him the King: 
" A goodly youth and worth a goodlier boon ! 440 

But so thou wilt no goodlier, then must Kay, 
The master of the meats and drinks, be thine," 

He rose and past ; then Kay, a man of mien 
Wan-sallow as the plant that feels itself 
Root-bitten by white lichen : 

" Lo ye now ! 445 

This fellow hath broken from some abbey, where, 
God wot, he had not beef and brewis enow, 
However that might (diance ! but an lie work, 
Like any pigeon will I cram his crop, 
And sleeker shall he shine than any hog." 450 

Then Lancelot standing near : " Sir Seneschal, 
Sleuth-hound thou knowest, and gray, and all the 

hounds ; 
A horse thou knowest, a man thou dost not know : 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 55 

Broad brows and fair, a fluent hair and fine, 

High nose, a nostril large and fine, and hands 455 

(Large, fair, and fine ! — Some young lad's mystery — 

But, or from sheepcot or king's hall, the boy 

Is noble-natured. Treat him with all grace. 

Lest he should come to shame thy judging of him." 

Then Kay : " What murmurestthou of mystery ? 460 
Think ye this fellow will poison the King's dish? 
Nay, for he spake too fool-like : mystery ! 
Tut, an the lad were noble, he had ask'd 
For horse and armor ; fair and fine, forsooth ! 
Sir Fine-face, Sir Fair-hands ? but see thou to it 465 
That thine own fineness, Lancelot, some fine day 
Undo thee not — and leave my man to me." 

So Gareth all for glory underwent 
The sooty yoke of kitchen-vassalage. 
Ate with young lads his portion by the door, 470 

And couch'd at night with grimy kitchen-knaves. 
And Lancelot ever spake him pleasantly. 
But Kay the seneschal, who loved him not. 
Would hustle and harry him, and labor him 

.Beyond his comrade of the hearth, and set 475 

To turn the broach, draw water, or hew wood, 
Or grosser tasks ; and Gareth bow'd himself 

!With all obedience to the King, and wrought 

[All kind of service with a noble ease 

I That graced the lowliest act in doing it. 480 

And when the thralls had talk among themselves. 
And one would praise the love that linkt the King 
And Ijancelot — how the King had saved his life 

j In battle twice, and Lancelot once the King's — 
For Lancelot was first in the tournament, 485 



56 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

But Arthur mightiest on the battlefield — 

Gareth was glad. Or if some other told 

How once the wandering forester at dawn, 

Far over the blue tarns and hazy seas, 

On Caer-Eryri's highest found the King, 490 

A naked babe, of whom the Prophet spake, 

" He passes to the Isle Avilion, 

He passes and is heal'd and cannot die " 

Gareth was glad. But if their talk were foul. 

Then would he whistle rapid as any lark, 495 

Or carol some old roundelay, and so loud 

That first they mock'd but, after, reverenced him. 

Or Gareth, telling some prodigious tale 

Of knights who sliced a red life-bubbling way 

Thro' twenty folds of twisted dragon, held 500 

All in a gap-mouth'd circle his good mates 

Lying or sitting round him, idle hands, 

Charm'd ; till Sir Kay, the seneschal, would come 

Blustering upon them, like a sudden wind 

Among dead leaves, and drive them all apart. 505 

Or when the thralls had sport among themselves, 

So there were any trial of mastery. 

He, by two yards in casting bar or stone, 

Was counted best ; and if there chanced a joust, 

So that Sir Kay nodded him leave to go, 510 

Would hurry thither, and when he saw the knights 

Clash like the coming and retiring wave. 

And the spear spring, and good horse reel, the boy 

Was half beyond himself for ecstasy. 

So for a month he wrought among the thralls; 515 
But in the weeks that follow'd, the good Queen, 
Repentant of the word she made him swear. 
And saddening in her childless castle, sent,' 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 67 

Between the in-crescent and de-crescent moon, 
Arms for her son, and loosed him from his vow. 520 

This, Gareth hearing from a squire of Lot 
I With whom he used to play at tourney once, 
When both were children, and in lonely hauntb 
Would scratch a ragged oval on the sand. 
And each at either dash from either end — 525 

Shame never made girl redder than Gareth joy. 
cHe langh'd ; he sprang. " Ont of the smoke, at once 
I leap from Satan's foot to Peter's knee — 
These news be mine, none other's — nay, the King's — 
Descend into the city : " whereon he sought 530 

The King alone, and found, and told him all. 

C 

" I have stagger'd thy strong Gawain in a tilt 
For pastime ; yea, he said it : joust can I. 
jMake me thy knight — in secret ! let my name 
Be hidd'n, and give me the first quest, I spring 535 
jLike flame from ashes." 

' Here the King's calm eye 

iFell on, and check'd, and made him flush, and bow 
Lowly, to kiss his hand, who answer'd him : 
' Son, the good mother let me know thee here, 
And sent her wish that I would yield thee thine. 540 
I Make thee my knight? my knights are sworn to 

vows 
3f utter hardihood, utter gentleness, 
And, loving, utter faithfulness in love, 
And uttermost obedience to the Kin^:." 



"O- 



Then Gareth, lightly springing from his knees: 545 
My King, for hardihood 1 can promise thee. 



58 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

For uttermost obedience make demand 

Of whom ye gave me to, the Seneschal, 

No mellow master of the meats and drinks ! 

And as for love, God wot, I love not yet, 550 

But love I shall, God willing." 

And the King ; 
" Make thee my knight in secret ? yea, but he. 
Our noblest brother, and our truest man. 
And one with me in all, he needs must know." 

"Let Lancelot know, my King, let Lancelot 
know. 555 

Thy noblest and thy truest ! " 

And the King: 
" But wherefore would ye men should wonder at you ? 
Nay, rather for the sake of me, their King, 
And the deed's sake my knighthood do the deed, 
Than to be noised of." 

Merrily Gareth ask'd : 560 
"Have I not earn'd my cake in baking of it? 
Let be my name until I make my name ! 
My deeds will speak : it is but for a day." 
So with a kindly hand on Gareth's arm 
Smiled the great King, and half-unwillingly 565 

Loving his lusty youthhood yielded to him. 
Then, after summoning Lancelot privily : 
" I have given him the first quest : he is not proven. 
Look therefore, when he calls for this in hall, 
Thoa get to horse and follow him far away. 570 

Cover the; lions on thy shield, and see. 
Far as thou mayest, he be nor ta'en nor slain." 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 59 

Then that same day there past into the hall 
A damsel of high lineage, and a brow 
May-blossom, and a cheek of apple-blossom, 575 

Hawk-eyes ; and lightly was her slender nose 
Tip-tilted like the petal of a flower : 
She into hall past with her page and cried: 

"O King, for thou hast driven the foe without, 
See to the foe within ! bridge, ford, beset 580 

By bandits, every one that owns a tower 
The lord for half a league. Why sit ye there ? 
I Rest would I not. Sir King, an I were king. 
Till even the lonest hold were all as free 
From cursed bloodshed as thine altar-cloth 585 

From that best blood it is a sin to spill." 

j " Comfort thyself," said Arthur, " I nor mine 
Rest : so my knighthood keep the vows they swore, 
The wastest moorland of our realm shall be 
Safe, damsel, as the centre of this hall. 590 

I What is thy name ? thy need ? " 

I " My name ? " she said — 

" Lynette, my name ; noble ; my need, a knight 
To combat for my sister, Lyonors, 
A lady of high lineage, of great lands. 
And comely, yea, and comelier than myself. 695 

She lives in Castle Perilous : a river 
Runs in three loops about her living-place ; 
And o'er it are three passings, and three knights 
Defend the passings, brethren, and a fourth. 
And of that four the mightiest, holds her stay'd 600 
In her own castle, and so besieges her 
To break her will, and make her wed with him ; 



CO SELECTED WYLLS OF THE KING 

And but delays his purport till thou send 

To do the battle with him thy chief man 

Sir Lancelot, whom he trusts to overthrow ; 605 

Then wed, with glory : but she will not wed 

Save whom she loveth, or a holy life. 

Now therefore have I come for Lancelot." 

Then Arthur mindful of Sir Gareth ask'd : 
'^ Damsel, ye know this Order lives to crush 610 

All wrongers of the realm. But say, these four, 
Who be they? What the fashion of the men?" 

"They be of foolish fashion, O Sir King, 
The fashion of that old knight-errantry 
Who ride abroad, and do but what they will ; 615 
Courteous or bestial from the moment, such 
As have nor law nor king ; and three of these 
Proud in their fantasy call themselves the Day, 
Morning-Star, and Noon-Sun, and Evening-Star, 
Being strong fools ; and never a whit more wise 620 
The fourth, who alway rideth arm'd in black, 
A Imge man-beast of boundless savagery. 
He names himself the Night and oftener Death, 
And wears a helmet mounted with a skull, 
And bears a skeleton figured on his arms, 625 

To show that who may slay or scape the three, 
Slain by himself, shall enter endless night. 
And all these four be fools, but mighty men, 
And therefore am I come for Lancelot." 

\ 

Hereat Sir Gareth call'd from where he rose, 630 
A head with kindling eyes above the throng, 
" A boon. Sir King — this quest ! " then — for he 
markVl 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 61 

Kay near him groaning like a wounded bull — 

" Yea, King, thou knowest thy kitchen-knave am I, 

And mighty thro' thy meats and drinks am I, 635 

And I can topple over a hundred such. 

Thy promise, King," and Arthur glancing at him, 

Brought down a momentary brow. "Rough, sudden, 

And pardonable, worthy to be knight — 

Go therefore," and all hearers were amazed. 640 

But on the damsel's forehead shame, pride, wrath 
Slew the may-white : she lifted either arm, 
'* Fie on thee. King ! I ask'd for thy chief knight, 
And thou hast given me but a kitchen-knave." 
Then ere a man in hall could stay her, tnrn'd, 645 
Fled down the lane of access to the King, 
Took horse, descended the slope street, and past 
The weird white gate, and paused without, beside ' 
The field of tourney, murmuring " kitchen-knave ! " 

Now two great entries open'd from the hall, 650 
At one end that gave upon a range 
Of level pavement where the King would pace 
At sunrise, gazing over plain and wood; 
And down from this a lordly stairway sloped 
Till lost in blowing trees and tops of towers ; " 655 
And out by this main doorway past the King. 
But one was counter to the hearth, and rose 
High that the highest-crested helm could ride 
Therethro' nor graze ; and by this entry fled 
The damsel in her wrath, and on to this 660 

Sir Gareth strode, and saw without the door 
King Arthur's gift, the worth of half a town, 
A war-horse of the best, and near it stood 
The two that out of north had follow'd him. 



670 



62 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

This bare a maiden shield, a casque ; that held 665 

The horse, the spear ; whereat Sir Gareth loosed 

A cloak that dropt from collar-bone to heel, 

A cloth of roughest web, and cast it down, 

And from it, like a fuel-smother'd fire 

That lookt half-dead, brake bright, and flash'd as 

those 
Dull-coated things, that making slide apart 
Their dusk wing-cases, all beneath there burns 
A jewell'd harness, ere they pass and fly. 
So Gareth ere he parted flash'd in arms. 
Then as he donn'd the helm, and took the shield 675 
And mounted horse and graspt a spear, of grain 
Storm-strengthen'd on a windy site, and tipt 
With trenchant steel, around him slowly prest 
The people, while from out of kitchen came 
The thralls in throng, and seeing who had work'd 680 
Lustier than any, and whom they could but love. 
Mounted in arms, threw up their caps and cried, 
" God bless the King, and all his fellowship ! " 
And on thro' lanes of shouting Gareth rode 
Down the slope street, and past without the gate. 685 

So Gareth past with joy ; but as the cur 
Pluckt from the cur he fights with, ere his cause 
Be cool'd by fighting, follows, being named, 
His owner, but remembers all, and growls 
Kemembering, so Sir Kay beside the door 690 

Mutter'd in scorn of Gareth whom he used 
To harry and hustle. 

" Bound upon a quest 
With horse and arms — the King hath past his time — 
My scullion knave ! Thralls, to your work again, 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 6S 

For an your fire be low ye kindle mine ! 695 

Will there be dawn in AVest and eve in East? 
Begone ! — my knave ! — belike and like enow 
Some old head-blow not heeded in his youth 
So shook his wits they wander in his prime — 
Crazed! How the villain lifted up his voice, 700 

Nor shamed to bawl himself a kitchen-knave ! 
Tut, he was tame and meek enow with me, 
Till peacock'd up with Lancelot's noticing. 
Well — I will after my loud knave, and learn 
Whether he know me for his master yet. 705 

Out of the smoke he came, and so my lance 
Hold, by God's grace, he shall into the mire — 
Thence, if the King awaken from his craze, 
Into the smoke again." 

But Lancelot said: 
" Kay, wherefore wilt thou go against the King, 710 
For that did never he whereon ye rail. 
But ever meekly served the King in thee? 
Abide : take counsel ; for this lad is great 
And lusty, and knowing both of lance and sword." 
"Tut, tell not m^," said Kay, "ye are overfine 715 
To mar stout knaves with foolish courtesies " : 
Then mounted, on thro' silent faces rode 
Down the slope city, and out beyond the gate. 

But by the field of tourney lingering yet 
Mutter'd the damsel: " Wherefore did the King 720 
Scorn me ? for, were Sir Lancelot lackt, at least 
He might have yielded to me one of those 
Who tilt for lady's love and glory here. 
Rather than — O sweet heaven! O fie upon him! — 
His kitchen-knave." 



ei SELECTED ID\TLS OF THE KING 

To whom Sir Gareth drew — 72^i| 
And there were none but few goodlier than he — ]'• 
Shilling- in arms, " Damsel, the quest is mine. 
Lead, and I follow." She thereat, as one 
That smells a foul-flesh' d agaric in the holt, 
And deems it carrion of some woodland thing, 730 | 
Or shrew, or weasel, nipt her slender nose 
With petulant thumb and finger, shrilling, "Hence! 
Avoid, thou smellest all of kitchen-grease. 
And look who comes behind " ; for there was Kay. 
" Knowest thou not me ? thy master ? I am Kay. 736 
We lack thee by the hearth." 

And Gareth to him, 
" Master no more ! too well I know thee, ay — 
The most ungentle knight in Arthur's hall." 
" Have at thee then," said Kay : they shock'd, and 

Kay 

Fell shoulder-slipt, and Gareth cried again, 740 

*' Lead, and I follow," and fast away she fled. 

\ 
But after sod and shingle ceased to fly 
Behind her, and the heart of her good horse 
Was nigh to burst with violence of the beat. 
Perforce she stay'd, and overtaken spoke : 745 

" What doest thou, scullion, in my fellowship? 
Deem'st thou that I accept thee aught the more 
Or love thee better, that by some device 
Full cowardly, or by mere unhappiness. 
Thou hast overthrown and slain thy master — 

thou ! — 750 

Dish-washer and broach-turner, loon! — to me 
Thou smellest all of kitchen as before." 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 65 

" Damsel," Sir Gareth answer'd gently, " say 
Whate'er ye will, but whatso'er ye say, 
1 leave not till I finish this fair quest, 755 

Or die therefore." 

" Ay, wilt thou finish it ? 
Sweet lord, how like a noble knight he talks 1 
The listening rogue hath caught the manner of it. 
But, knave, anon thou shalt be met with, knave, 
And then by such a one that thou for all 760 

The kitchen brewis that was ever supt 
Shalt not once dare to look him in the face.'* 

" I shall assay," said Gareth with a smile 
That madden'd her, and away she flashed again 
Down the long avenues of a boundless wood, 765 

And Gareth following was again beknaved: 

" Sir Kitchen-knave, I have miss'd the only way 
Where Arthur's men are set along the wood ; 
The wood is nigh as full of thieves as leaves : 
If both be slain, I am rid of thee ; but ye% 770 

Sir Scullion, canst thou use that spit of thine? 
Fight, an thou canst : I have miss'd the only way." 

So till the dusk that folio w'd evensong 
Rode on the two, re viler and reviled ; 
Then after one long slope was mounted, saw, 775 

Bowl-shaped, thro' tops of many thousand pines 
A gioomy-gladed hollow slowly sink 
To westward — in tlie deeps whereof a mere, 
Round as the red eye of an eagle-owl. 
Under the half-dead sunset glared ; and shouts 780 
Ascended) and there brake a servingman 



6C SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Flying from out of the black wood, and crying, 

" They have bound my lord to cast him in the • 

mere." 
Then Gareth, " Bound am I to right the wrong'd, 
But straitlier bound am I to bide with thee." 785 

And when the damsel spake contemptuously, 
*'Lead, and I follow," Gareth cried again, 
" Follow, I lead ! " so down among the pines 
He plunged ; and there, black-shadow'd nigh the mere. 
And mid-thigh-deep in bulrushes and reed, 790 

Saw six tall men haling a seventh along, 
A stone about his neck to drown him in it. 
Three with good blows he quieted, but three 
Fled thro' the pines ; and Gareth loosed the stone ] 

From off his neck, then in the mere beside 795 

Tumbled it ; oilily bubbled up the mere. 
Last, Gareth loosed his bonds and on free feet 
Set him, a stalwart baron, Arthur's friend. 

" Well that ye came, or else these caitiff rogues 
Had wreak'd themselves on me; good cause is theirs 800 
To hate me, for my wont hath ever been 
To catch my thief, and then like vermin here 
Drown him, and with a stone about his neck ; 
And under this wan water many of them 
Lie rotting, but at night let go the stone, 805 

And rise, and flickering in a grimly light 
Dance on the mere. Good now, ye have saved a life 
Worth somewhat as the cleanser of this wood. 
And fain would I reward thee worshipfully. 
AVhat guerdon will ye? " 

Gareth sharply spake : 810 
''None! for Ihe deed's sake have I done the deed, 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 67 

[n uttermost obedience to the King. 

But wilt thou yield this damsel harborage?" 

Whereat the baron saying, " I well believe 
You be of Arthur's Table," a light laugh 815 

Broke from Lynette : '* Ay, truly of a truth, 
And in a sort, being Arthur's kitchen-knave ! — 
But deem not I accept thee aught the more, 
Scullion, for running sharply with thy spit 
Down on a rout of craven foresters. 820 

A thresher with his flail had scattered them. 
N^ay — for thou smellest of the kitchen still. 
But an this lord will yield us harborage, 
V\^ell." 

So she spake. A league beyond the wood 
All in a full-fair manor and a rich, 825 

His towers, where that day a feast had been 
Held in high hall, and many a viand left. 
And many a costly cate, received the three. 
And there they placed a peacock in his pride 
Before the damsel, and the baron set 830 

jrareth beside her, but at once she rose. 

" Meseems, that here is much discourtesy, 
Setting this knave, Lord Baron, at my side. 
Hear me — this morn I stood in Arthur's hall. 
And pray'd the King would grant me Lancelot 835 
Fo fight the brotherhood of Day and Night — 
Ihe last a monster unsubduable 
Of any save of him for whom I call'd — 
Suddenly bawls this frontless kitchen-knave, 
'The quest is mine; thy kitchen-knave am I, 840 

And mighty thro' thy meats and drinks am L' 



C8 SELECTED IDYLLS CF THE KING 

Tlien Arthur all at once gone mad replies, 

*Go therefore,' and so gives the quest to him — 

II im — here — a villain fitter to stick swine 

Than ride abroad redressing women's wrong, 845 

Or sit beside a noble gentlewoman," 

Then half-ashamed and part-amazed, the lord 
Now look'd at one and now at other, left 
The damsel by the peacock in his pride, 
And, seating Garetli at another board, 850 

Sat down beside him, ate and then began : 

" Friend, whether thou be kitchen-knave, or not, 
Or whether it be the maiden's fantasy, 
And whether she be mad, or else the King, 
Or both or neither, or thyself be mad, 855 

I ask not : but thou strikest a strong stroke, 
For strong thou art and goodly therewithal, 
And saver of my life ; and therefore now, 
F'or here be mighty men to joust with, weigh 
Whether thou wilt not with thy damsel back 860 

To crave again Sir Lancelot of the King. 
Thy pardon ; I but speak for thine avail, 
The saver of my life." 

And Gareth said, 
"Full pardon, but I follow up the quest. 
Despite of Day and Night and Death and Hell." 865 

So when, next morn, the lord whose life he saved 
Had, some brief space, convey'd them on their way 
And left them with God-speed, Sir Gareth spake, 
" Lead, and I follow." Haughtily she replied : 



GARETH AND LYNETTE €9 

"I fly no more^ I allow thee for an hour. 870 

Lion and stoat have isled together, knave, 
[n time of flood. Nay, furthermore, methinks 
5ome ruth is mine for thee. Back wilt thou, fool? 
For hard by here is one will overthrow 
'\nd slay thee ; then will I to court again, 875 

^nd shame the King for only yielding me 
Vly champion from the ashes of his hearth." 

To whom Sir Gareth answer'd courteously: 
' Say thou thy say, and I will do my deed. 
(VUow me for mine hour, and thou wilt find 880 

Vly fortunes all as fair as hers who lay 
Among the ashes and wedded the King's son." 

Then to the shore of one of those long loops 
^^herethro' the serpent river coil'd, they came. 
Rough-thicketed were the banks and steep; the stream 
b'ull, narrow ; this a bridge of single arc 886 

Fook at a leap; and on the further side 
^rose a silk pavilion, gay with gold 
[n streaks and rays, and all Lent-lily in hue, 
5ave that the dome was purple, and above, 890 

I!rimson, a slender banneret fluttering. 
And therebefore the lawless warrior paced 
Jnarm'd, and calling, '' Damsel, is this he, 
Che champion thou hast brought from Arthur's hall? 
?or whom we let thee pass." " Nay, nay," she said, 895 
' Sir Morning-Star. The King in utter scorn 
If thee and thy much folly hath sent thee here 
lis kitchen-knave : and look thou to thyself : 
^ee that he fall not on thee suddenly, 
^nd slay thee unarm'd ; he is not knight but 

knave." 900 



70 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE EING 

Then at his call, " O daughters of the Dawn, 
And servants of the Morning-Star, approach, 
Ann nie," from out the silken curtain-folds 
Bare-footed and bare-headed three fair girls 
In gilt and rosy raiment came: their feet 905 

In dewy grasses glisten 'd ; and the hair 
All over glanced with dewdrop or with gem 
Like sparkles in the stone Avanturine. 
These arm'd him in blue arms, and gave a shield 
Blue also, and thereon the morning star. 910 

And Gareth silent gazed upon the knight. 
Who stood a moment, ere his horse was brought. 
Glorying; and in the stream beneath him shone, 
Immingled with heaven's azure waveringly, 
The gay pavilion and the naked feet, 915 

His arms, the rosy raiment, and the star. 

Then she that watched him : " Wherefore stare ye so? 
Thou shakest in thy fear: there yet is time: 
Flee down the valley before he get to horse. 
Who will cr}^ shame? Thou art not knight but knave." 

Said Gareth: "Damsel,whether knave or knight, 921 
Far liefer had I fight a score of times 
Than hear thee so missay me and revile. 
Fair words were best for him who fights for thee ; 
But truly foul are better, for they send 925 

That strength of anger thro' mine arms, I know 
That I shall overthrow him." 

And he that bore 
The star, when mounted, cried from o'er the bridge : 
" A kitchen-knave, and sent in scorn of me ! 
Such fight not I, but answer scorn with scorn. 930 



GARETH i\ND LYNETTE 71 

For this were shame to do him further wrong. 
Than set him on his feet, and take his horse 
And arms, and so return him to the King. 
Come, therefore, leave thy lady lightly, knave. 
Avoid : for it beseemeth not a knave 935 

To ride with such a lady." 

" Dog, thou liest ! 
I spring from loftier lineage than thine own." 
He spake; and all at fiery speed the two 
Shock'd on the central bridge, and either spear 
Bent but not brake, and either knight at once, 940 
Hurl'd as a stone from out of a catapult 
Beyond his horse's crupper and the bridge. 
Fell, as if dead ; but quickly rose and drew. 
And Gareth lash'd so fiercely with his brand 
He drave his enemy backward down the bridge, 945 
The damsel crying, " Well-stricken, kitchen-knave ! " 
Till Gareth's shield was cloven ; but one stroke 
Laid him that clove it grovelling on the ground. 

Tlien cried the fallen, " Take not my life : I yield." 
And Gareth, " So this damsel ask it of me, 950 

Good — I accord it easily as a grace." 
She reddening, " Insolent scullion ! I of thee ? 
I bound to thee for any favor ask'd ! " 
" Then shall he die." And Gareth there unlaced 
His helmet as to slay him, but she shriek'd, 955 

*' Be not so hardy, scullion, as to slay 
One nobler than thyself." *' Damsel, tliy charge 
Is an abounding pleasure to me. Knight, 
Thy life is thine at her command. Arise 
And quickly pass to Arthur's hall, and say 960 

His kitchen-knave hath sent thee. See thou crav^e 



72 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

His pardon for thy breakin^^ of his laws. 
Myself when I return will plead for thee. 
Thy shield is mine — farewell ; and, damsel, thou, 
Lead, and I follow." 

And fast away she fled; 955 
Then when he came upon her, spake : " Methought, 
Knave, when I watch'd thee striking on the bridoe, 
The savor of thy kitchen came upon me 
A little faintlier : but the wind hath changed ; 
I scent it twenty-fold." And then she sang, 970 

" ' O morning star ' — not that tall felon there 
Whom thou, by sorcery or unhappiness I 

Or some device, hast foully overthrown, — 
* O morning star that smilest in the blue, 
O star, my morning dream hath proven true, 975 

Smile sweetly, thou ! my love hath smiled on me.' 

" But thou begone, take counsel, and away, 

For hard by here is one that guards a ford 

The second brother in theii' fool's parable 

Will pay thee all thy wages, and to boot. 930 

Care not for shame : thou art not knight but knave." 

To whom Sir Gareth answer'd, laughingly : 
" Parables ? Hear a parable of the knave. 
When I was kitchen-knave among the rest. 
Fierce was the hearth, and one of my co-mates 935 
Own'd a rough dog, to whom he cast his coat, 
'Guard it,' and there was none to meddle with it. 
And such a coat art thou, and thee the King 
Gave me to guard, and such a dog am I, 
To woriy, and not to flee— and— knight or knave — 990 



GARETH AND LYNEITE 73 

The knave that doth thee service as full knight 
Is all as good, meseems, as any knight 
Toward thy sister's freeing." 

" Ay, Sir Knave ! 
Ay, knave, because thou strikest as a knight, 
Being but knave, I hate thee all the more." 995 

" Fair damsel, you should worship me the more, 
That, being but knave, I throw thine enemies." 

*' Ay , ay," she said " but thou shalt meet thy match." 

So when they touch'd the second river-loop. 
Huge on a huge red horse, and all in mail 1000 

Burnish'd to blinding, shone the Noonday Sun 
Beyond a raging shallow. As if the flower 
That blows a globe of after arrowlets 
Ten-thousand-fold had grown, flash'd the fierce shield, 
All sun ; and Gareth's eyes had flying blots i005 

Before them when he turn'd from watching him. 
He from beyond the roaring shallow roar'd, 
" What doest thou, brother, in my marches here ? " 
And she athwart the shallow shrill'd again, 
"Here is a kitchen-kuave from Arthur's hall lOlO 
Hath overthrown thy brother, and hath his arms." 
" Ugh ! " cried the Sun, and, vizoring up a red 
And cipher face of rounded foolishness, 
Push'd horse across the foamings of the ford, 
WhomGareth met mid-stream: no room was there ioi5 
For lance or tourney-skill : four strokes they struck 
With sword, and these were mighty ; the new knight 
Had fear he might be shamed ; but as the Sun 
Heaved up a ponderous arm to strike the fifth, 



71 SELECTED IDIXLS OF THE KING 

The hoof of his horse slipt in the stream, the stream 1020 
Descended, and the Sun was wash'd away. 

Then Gareth laid his lance athwart the ford ; 
So drew him home; but he that fought no more, 
As being all bone-batter' d on the rock, 
Yielded : and Gareth sent him to the King. 1025 

"Myself when I return will plead for thee. 
Lead, and I follow." Quietly she led. 
'' Hath not the good wind, damsel, changed again?" 
*' Nay, not a point ; nor art thou victor here. 
There lies a ridge of slate across the ford ; 1030 

His horse thereon stumbled — ay, for I saw it. 

"'O sun' — not this strong fool whom thou. Sir 
Knave, 
Hast overthrown thro' mere unhappiness — 
* O sun, that wakenest all to bliss or pain, 
O moon, that lay est all to sleep again, 1035 

Shine sweetly : twice my love hath smiled on me.' 

"What knowest thou of love-song or of love? 
Nay, nay, God wot, so thou wert nobly born. 
Thou hast a pleasant presence. Yea, perchance, — 

" ' O dewy flowers that open to the sun, 1040 

O dewy flowers that close when day is done. 
Blow sweetly: twice my love hath smiled on me.' 

" What knowest thou of flowers, except, belike. 
To garnish meats with? hath not our good King, 
Who lent me thee, the flower of kitchcndom, 1015 
A foolish love for flowers ? what stick ye round 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 75 

The pasty ? wherewithal deck the boar's head ? 
Flowers? nay, the boar hath rosemaries and bay. 

" ' O birds that warble to the morning sky, 
birds that warble as the day goes by, 1050 

jSing sweetly : twice my love hath smiled on me.' 

" What knowest thou of birds, lark, mavis, merle, 
Linnet? what dream ye when they utter forth 
May-music growing with the growing light. 
Their sweet sun-worship ? these be for the snare — 1055 
So runs thy fancy — these be for the spit. 
Larding and basting. See thou have not now 
Larded thy last, except thou turn and fly. 
There stands the third fool of their allegory." 

For there beyond a bridge of treble bow, 1060 

All in a rose-red from the west, and all 
Naked it seem'd, and glowing in the broad 
Deep-dimpled current underneath, the knight 
That named himself the Star of Evening stood. 

And Gareth, " Wherefore waits the madman 
there 1065 

Naked in open dayshine?" ''Nay," she cried, 
'' Not naked, only wrapt in harden'd skins 
That fit him like his own ; and so ye cleave 
His armor off him, these will turn the blade." 

Then the third brother shouted o'er the bridge, 1070 
'' O brother-star, why shine ye here so low ? 
Thy ward is higher up : but have ye slain 
The damsel's champion?" and the damsel cried; 



76 SELECTED ID\TLS OF THE KTSG 

" No star of thine, but shot from Arthur's heaven 
With all disaster unto thine and thee ! 1075 

For both thy younger brethren have gone down 
Before this youth ; and so wilt thou, Sir Star ; 
Art thou not old?" 

" Old, damsel, old and hard, 
Old, with the might and breath of twenty boys." 
Said Gareth, " Old, and over-bold in brag ! 108O 

But that same strength which threw the Morning Star 
Can throw the Evening." 

Then that other blew 
A hard and deadly note upon the horn. 
" Approach and arm me ! " With slow steps from out 
An old storm-beaten, russet, many-stain'd 1085 

Pavilion, forth a grizzled damsel came. 
And arm'd him in old arms, and brought a helm 
^V ith but a drying evergreen for crest, 
And gave a shield whereon the star of even 
Half-tarnish'd and half-bright, his emblem, shone. 1090 
But when it glitter'd o'er the saddle-bow, 
They madly hurl'd together on the bridge; 
And Gareth overthrew him, lighted, drew, 
There met him drawn, and overthrew him again. 
But up like fire he started : and as oft 1095 

As Gareth brought him grovelling on his knees, 
So many a time he vaulted up again ; 
Till Garetli panted hard, and his great heart, 
Foredooming all his trouble was in vain. 
Labor 'd within him, for he seem'd as one HOG 

That all in later, sadder age begins 
To war against ill uses of a life, 
But these from all his life arise, and cry, 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 77 

"Thou hast made us lords, and canst not put us 

down I" 
He half despairs; so Gareth seem'd to strike iios 
Vainly, the damsel clamoring all the while, 
" Well done, knave-knight, well stricken, O good 

knight-knave — 
O knave, as noble as any of all the knights — 
Shame me not, shame me not. I have prophesied — 
Strike, thou art worthy of the Table Round — mo 
His arms are old, he trusts the harden'd skin — 
Strike — strike — the wind will never change again." 
And Gareth hearing ever stronglier smote. 
And hew'd great pieces of his armor off him, 
But lash'd in vain against the harden'd skin, ill 5 
And could not wholly bring him under, more 
Than loud Southwesterns, rolling ridge on ridge, 
The buoy that rides at sea, and dips and springs 
For ever ; till at length Sir Gareth's brand 
Clash'd his, and brake it utterly to the hilt. 1120 

" I have tliee now " ; but forth that other sprang. 
And, all unknightlike, writhed his wiry arms 
Around him, till he felt, despite his mail, 
Strangled, but straining even his uttermost 
Cast, and so hurl'd him headlong o'er the bridge 1125 
Down to the river, sink or swim, and cried, 
" Lead, and I follow." 

But the damsel said : 
" I lead no longer ; ride thou at my side ; 
Thou art the kingliest of all kitchen-knaves. 

" 'O trefoil, sparkling on the rainy plain, 1130 

O rainbow with three colors after rain. 
Shine sweetly : thrice my love hath smiled on me/ 



78 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

" Sir, — and good faitli, I fain had added — Knight, 
But that I heard thee call thyself a knave, — 
Shamed am I that I so rebuked, reviled, 1135 

Missaid thee; noble I am; and thought the King 
Scorn'd me and mine; and now thy pardon, friend, 
For thou hast ever answer'd courteously, 
And wholly bold thou art, and meek withal 
As any of Arthur's best, but, being knave, 1140 

Hast mazed my wit: I marvel what thou art.'* 

" Damsel," he said, " you be not all to blame, 
Saving that you mistrusted our good King 
AVould handle scorn, or yield you, asking, one 
Not fit to cope your quest. You said your say; 1145 
Mine answer was my deed. Good sooth! I hold 
He scarce is knight, yea but half-man, nor meet 
To fight for gentle damsel, he, who lets 
His heart be stirr'd with any foolish heat 
At any gentle damsel's waywardness. 1150 

Shamed? care not! thy foul sayings fought for 

me: 
And seeing now thy words are fair, methinks 
There rides no knight, not Lancelot, his great self. 
Hath force to quell me." 

*Nigh upon that hour 
When the lone hern forgets his melancholy, 1155 

Lets down his other leg, and stretching dreams 
Of goodly supper in the distant pool, 
'J'hen turn'd the noble damsel smiling at him, 
And told him of a cavern hard at hand, 
Where bread and baken meats and good red wine neo 
Of Southland, which the Lady Lyonors 
Had sent her coming champion, waited liim. 



1 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 79 

Anon they past a narrow comb wherein 
Were slabs of rock with figures, knights on horse 
Sculptured, and deckt in slowly- waning hues. ii65 
^* Sir Knave, my knight, a hermit, once was here, 
Whose holy hand hath fashion'd on the rock 
The war of Time against the soul of man. 
And yon four fools have suck'd their allegory 
From these damp walls, and taken but the form. 1170 
Know ye not these?" and Gareth lookt and read — 
In letters like to those the vexillary 
Hath left crag-carven o'er the streaming Gelt — 
'^ Phosphorus," then " Meridies," — " Hesperus " — 
" Nox " — "Mors," beneath five figures, armed men, 
Slab after slab, their faces forward all, 1176 

And running down the Soul, a shape that fled 
With broken wings, torn raiment, and loose hair, 
For help and shelter to the hermit's cave. 
"Follow the faces, and we find it. Look, 1180 

Who comes behind ? " 

For one — delay'd at fu*st 
Thro' helping back the dislocated Kay 
To Camelot, then by what thereafter chanced, 
i The damsel's headlong error thro' the wood — 
jSir Lancelot, having swum the river-loops — 1185 
'His blue shield-lions cover'd — softly drew 
Behind the twain, and when he saw the star 
Gleam, on Sir Gareth's turning to him, cried, 
"Stay, felon knight, I avenge me for my friend.'* 
And Gareth crying prick'd against the cry; 1190 

But when they closed — in a moment — at one touch 
Of that skill'd spear, the wonder of the world — 
Went sliding down so easily, and fell. 
That when he found the grass within his hands 



80 SELECTED ID\TLS OF THE KING 

lie laii^rhM; the laughter jarr'd upon Lynette: 1195 

llarslily slie ask'd liini, " Shamed and overthrown, 

And tumbled back into the kitchen-knave, 

Why laugh ye? that ye blew your boast in vain?" 

'' Nay, noble damsel, but that I, the son 

Of oid King Lot and good Queen Bellicent, 1200 

And victor of the bridges and the ford, 

And Ivniglit of Arthur, here lie thrown by whom 

I know not, all thro' mere unhappiness — 

Device and sorcery and unhappiness — 

Out, sword ; we are thrown ! " And Lancelot 

answer'd : " Prince, 1205 

Gareth — thro' the mere unhappiness 
Of one who came to help tliee, not to harm, 
Lancelot, and all as glad to find thee whole 

As on the day when Arthur knighted him." 1209 

Then Gareth : "Thou — Lancelot ! — thine the hand 
That threw me ? An some chance to mar the boast 
Thy brethi-en of thee make — which could not chance — 
Had sent thee down before a lesser spear. 
Shamed had I been, and sad — O Lancelot — thou ! " 

Whereat the maiden, petulant : " Lancelot, 1215 
Wliy came ye not when call'd? and wherefore now 
Come ye, not call'd ? I gloried in my knave. 
Who being still rebuked would answer still 
Courteous as any knight — but now, if knight. 
The marvel dies, and leaves me fool'd and trick'd, 1220 
And only wondering wherefore play'd upon; 
And doubtful whether I and mine be soorn'd. 
Where should W-truth if not in Arthur's Hall, 
In Arthur's presence? Knight, knave, prince and fool, 

1 hate thee and forever." - 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 81 

And Lancelot. said : 1225 
"Blessed be thou, Sir Gareth! knight art thou 
To the King's best wish. O damsel, be you wise, 
To call him shamed who is but overthrown ? 
Thrown have I been, nor once, but many a time. 
Victor from vanquish'd issues at the last, 1230 

And overthrower from being overthrown. 
With sword we have not striven ; and thy good horse 
And thou art weary; yet not less I felt 
Thy manhood thro' that wearied lance of thine. 
Well hast thou done ; for all the stream is freed, 1235 
And thou hast wreak'd his justice on his foes. 
And when reviled hast answer'd graciously. 
And makest merry when overthrown. Prince, knight. 
Hail, knight and prince, and of our Table Round! " 

And then when turning to Lynette he tohl 1240 
The tale of Gareth, petulantly she said : 
"Ay, well — ay, well — for worse than being fool'd 
Of others, is to fool one's self. A cave. 
Sir Lancelot, is hard by, with meats and diiiiks 
And forage for the horse, and flint for fire, 1245 

But all about it flies a honeysuckle. 
Seek, till we find." And when they sought and found. 
Sir Gareth drank and ate, and all his life 
Past into sleep : on whom the maiden gazed : 
" Sound sleep be thine! sound cause to sleep hast thou. 
Wake lusty ! Seem I not as tender to him 1251 

As any mother? Ay, but such a one 
As all day long hath rated at her child. 
And vext his day, but blesses him asleep — 
Good lord, how sweetly smells the honeysuckle 1255 
In the hush'd night, as if the world were one 
Of utter peace, and love, and gentleness ! 



82 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

O Lancelot. Lancelot,"— and she clapt her hands — 

" Full merry am I to find my goodly knave 

Is knight and noble. See now, sworn have I, 1260, 

Else >T>n black felon had not let me pass, 

To bring thee back to do the battle with him. 

Thus an thou goest, he will fight thee first ; 

AVho doubts thee victor? so will my knight-knave 

Miss the full flower of this accomplishment." 1265 

Said Lancelot : " Perad venture he you name 
May know my shield. Let Gareth, an he will, 
Change his for mine and take my charger, fresh, 
Not to be spurr'd, loving the battle as well 
As he that rides him." '' Lancelot-like," she said, 1270 
" Courteous in this. Lord Lancelot, as in all." 

And Gareth, wakening, fiercely clutch'd the shield : 
*' Ramp, ye lance-splintering lions, on whom all spears 
Are rotten sticks ! ye seem agape to roar ! 
Yea, ramp and roar at leaving of your lord ! — 1275 
Care not, good beasts, so well I care for you. 
O noble Lancelot, from my hold on these 
Streams virtue — fire — thro' one that will not shame 
Even the shadow of Lancelot under shield. 
Hence : let us go." 

Silent the silent field 1280 

They traversed. Arthur's Harp tho' summer-wan, 
In counter motion to the clouds, allured 
The glance of Gareth dreaming on his liege. 
A star shot ; " Lo," said Gareth, " the foe falls ! " 
An owl whoopt : " Hark the victor pealing there ! " 1285 
Suddenly she that rode upon his left 
Clung to the shield that Lancelot lent him, crying : 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 83 

" Yield, yield him this again : 't is he must fight : 

I curse the tongue that all thro' yesterday 

Keviled thee, and hath wrought on Lancelot now 1290 

To lend thee horse and shield : wonders ye have done ; 

Miracles ye cannot : here is glory enow 

In having flung the three : I see thee maim'd, 

Mangled ; I swear thou canst not fling the fourth." 

" And wherefore, damsel? tell me all ye know. 1295 
You cannot scare me ; nor rough face, or voice, 
Brute bulk of limb, or boundless savageiy 
Appal me from the quest." 

" Nay, prince," she cried, 
" God wot, I never look'd upon the face, 
Seeing he never rides abroad by day ; 1300 

But watch'd him have I like a phantom pass 
Chilling the night : nor have I heard the voice. 
Always he made his mouthpiece of a page 
Who came and went, and still reported him 
As closing in himself the strength of ten, 1305 

And when his anger tare him, massacring 
Man, woman, lad, and girl — yea, the soft babe! 
Some hold that he hath swallow'd infant flesh. 
Monster ! O prince, 1 went for Lancelot first, 
The quest is Lancelot's: give him back the shield." 1310 

Said Gareth laughing, "An he fight for this. 
Belike he wins it as the better man : 
Thus — and not else ! " 

But Lancelot on him urged 
All the devisings of their chivalry 
When one might meet a mightier than himself ; 1315 



84 SELECTED ID\T.LS OF THE KING 

How best to manage horse, lance, sword, and sliield, 
And so fill up the gap where force might fail 
With skill and fineness. Instant were his words. 

Then Gareth : " Here be rules. I know but one — 
To dash against mine enemy and to win. 1320 

Yet have I watch'd thee victor in the joust, 
And seen thy way." "Heaven help thee!" sigh'd 
Lynette. 

Tlien for a space, and under cloud that grew 
To thunder-gloom palling all stars, they rode 
In converse till she made her palfrey halt, 1325 

Lifted an arm, and softly whisper'd, " There." 
And all the three were silent seeing, pitch'd 
Beside the Castle Perilous on flat field, 
A huge pavilion like a mountain peak 
Sunder the glooming crimson on the marge, 1330 

Bhick, with black banner, and a long black horn 
Beside it hanging ; which Sir Gareth graspt, 
And so, before the two could hinder him. 
Sent all his heart and breath thro' all the horn. 
Echo'd the walls ; a light twinkled ; anon 1335 

Came lights and lights, and once again he blew ; 
AVliereon were hollow tramplings up and down 
And muffled voices heard, and shadows past ; 
Till high above him, circled with her maids, 
The Lady Lyonors at a window stood, 1340 

i^t'autifnl among lights, and waving to him 
AVliite hands and courtesy; but when the ])Lince 
Three times had blown — after long hush — at last — 
The huge pavilion slowly yielded up, 
Tliro' those black foldings, that which housed therein. 
High on a night-black horse, in night- black arms, 1346 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 85 

With white breast-bone, and barren ribs of Death, 
And crown'd with fleshless laughter — some ten 

steps — 
In the half-light — thro' the dim dawn — advanced 
The monster, and then paused, and spake no word. 1350 

But Gareth spake and all indignantly: 
"Fool, for thou hast, men say, the strength of ten. 
Canst thou not trust the limlis thy God hath oiven. 
But must, to make the terror of thee more, 
Trick thyself out in ghastly imageries 1355 

Of that which Life hath done with, and the clod. 
Less dull than thou, will hide with mantling flowers 
As if for pity ? " But he spake no word ; 
Which set the horror higher: a maiden swoon'd ; 
The Lady Lyonors wrung her hands and wept, laeo 
As doom'd to be the bride of Night and Death ; 
Sir Gareth's head prickled beneath his helm ; 
And even Sir Lancelot thro' his warm blood felt 
Ice strike, and all that mark'd him were aghast. 

At once Sir Lancelot's charger fiercely neigh'd, 1365 
And Death's dark war-horse bounded forward with 

him. 
Then those that did not blink the terror saw 
That Death was cast to ground, and slowly rose. 
But with one stroke Sir Gareth split the skull. 
Half fell to right and half to left and lay. 1370 

Then with a stronger buffet he clove the helm 
As throughly as the skull ; and out from this 
Issued tlie bright face of a blooming boy 
Fresh as a flower new-born, and crying, "Knight, 
Slay me not : my three brethren bade me do it, 1375 
To make a horror all about the house, 



8G SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

And stay the world from Lady Lyonors; 
They never dream'd the passes would be past.*' 
Answer'd Sir Gareth graciously to one 
Not many a moon his younger, " My fair child, 1380 
What madness made thee challenge the chief knight 
Of Arthur's hall ? " "Fair Sir, they bade me do it. 
They hate the King and Lancelot, the King's friend ; 
They hoped to slay him somewhere on the stream. 
They never dream'd the passes could be past." 1355 

Then sprang the happier day from underground ; 
And Lady Lyonors and her house, with dance 
And revel and song, made merry over Death, 
As being after all their foolish fears 
And horrors only proven a blooming boy. 1390 

So large mirth lived, and Gareth won the quest. 

And he that told the tale in older times 
Says that Sir Gareth wedded Lyonors, 
But he that told it later says Lynette. 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 

Elaine the fair, Elaine the lovable, 
Elaine, the lily maid of Astolat, 
High in her chamber up a tower to the east 
Guarded the sacred shield of Lancelot; 
Which first she placed where morning's earliest ray 5 
Might strike it, and awake her with the gleam ; 
Then fearing rust or soilure fashion'd for it 
A case of silk, and braided thereupon 
All the devices blazon'd on the shield 
In tlieir own tinct, and added, of her wit, 10 

A border fantasy of branch and flower, 
And yellow-throated nestling in the nest. 
Nor rested thus content, but day by day, 
Leaving her household and good father, climb'd 
That eastern tower, and entering barr'd her door, 15 
Stript off the case, and read the naked shield. 
Now guess'd a hidden meaning in his arms. 
Now made a pretty history to herself 
Of every dint a sword had beaten in it. 
And every scratch a lance had made upon it, 20 

Conjecturing when and where : this cut is fresh ; 
That ten years back ; this dealt him at Caerlyle ; 
That at Caerleon; this at Camelot: 
And ah God's mercy, what a stroke was there! 
And here a thrust that might have kill'd, but God 25 
Broke the strong lance, and roll'd his enemy down, 
And saved him : so she lived in fantasy. 

How came the lily maid by that good shield 
Of Lancelot, she that kncw.not ev'n his name? 



83 SELECTED ID\TLS OF THE KING 

He left it with lier, wlien be rode to tilt 30 

For the great diamond in the diamond jousts, 
Which Arthur had ordain'd, and by that name 
Had named them, since a diamond was the prize. 

For Arthur, long before they crown'd him King, 
Roving the trackless realms of Lyonnesse, 35 

Had found a glen, gray boulder and black tarn. 
A horror lived about the tarn, and clave 
Like its own mists to all the mountain side. ^ 
For here two brothers, one a king, had met. 
And fought together; but their names were lost; 40 
And each had slain his brother at a blow; 
And down they fell and made the glen abhorr'd : 
And there they lay till all their bones were bleach'd, 
And lichen'd into color with the crags: 
And he, that once was king, had on a crown 45 

Of diamonds, one in front and four aside. 
And Arthur came, and laboring up the pass, 
All in a misty moonshine, unawares 
Had trodden that crown'd skeleton, and the skull 
Ih-akefrom the nape, and from the skull the crown 50 
Koird into light, and turning on its rims 
Fled lilve a glittering rivulet to the tarn: 
And down the shingly scaur he plunged, and caught, 
And set it on his head, and in his heart 
1 [card murmurs, '' Lo, thou likewise slialt be King." 55 

Thereafter, when a King, he had the gems 
Pluck'dfrom the crown, and show'd them to his knights, 
Saying, "These jewels, whereupon I chanced 
Divinely, are the kingdom's, not the King's — 
For public use : henceforward let there be, 60 

Once every year, a joust for one of these : 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 89 

For so by nine years' proof we needs must learn 
Which is our mightiest, and ourselves shall grow 
Li use of arms and manhood, till we drive 
The heathen, who, some say, shall rule the land g5 
Hereafter, which God hinder." Thus he spoke: 
And eight years past, eight jousts had been, and 

still 
Had Lancelot won the diamond of tke year, 
With purpose to present them to the Queen, 
When all were won ; but meaning all at once 70 

To snare her royal fancy with a boon 
Worth half her realm, had never spoken word. 

Now for the central diamond and the last 
And largest, Arthur, holding then his court 
Hard on the river nigh the place which now 75 

Is this world's hugest, let proclaim a jonst 
At Camelot, and when the time drew nigh 
Spake (for she had been sick) to Guinevere, 
'' Are you so sick, my Queen, you cannot move 
To these fair jousts?" '' Yea, lord," she said, "ye 

know it." 80 

" Then will ye miss," he answer'd, " the great deeds 
Of Lancelot, and his prowess in the lists, 
A sight ye love to look on." And the Queen 
Lifted her eyes, and they dwelt languidly 
On Lancelot, where he stood beside the King. 85 

He thinking that he read her meaning there, 
" Stay with me, I am sick; my love is more 
Than many diamonds," yielded ; and a heart 
Love-loyal to the least wish of the Queen 
(However much he yearn'd to make complete 90 

The tale of diamonds for his destined boon) 
Urged him to speak against the truth, and say, 



90 



SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 



*' Sir King, mine ancient wound is hardly whole, 
And lets me from the saddle;" and the King 
Glanced first at him, then her, and went his way. 95 
No sooner gone than suddenly she began ; 

"To blame, my lord Sir Lancelot, much to blame! 
Why go ye not to these fair jousts ? the knights 
Are half of them our enemies, and the crowd 
Will murmur, ' Lo, the shameless ones, who take 100 
Their pastime now the trustful King is gone I ' " 
Then Lancelot vext at having lied in vain : 
"Are ye so wise? ye were not once so wise, 
]\Iy Queen, that summer, when ye loved me first. 
Then of the crowd ye took no more account 105 

Than of the myriad cricket of the mead, 
W^hen its own voice clings to each blade of grass, 
And every voice is nothing. As to knights. 
Them surely I can silence with all ease. 
But now my loyal worship is allow'd 110 

Of all men : many a bard, without offence, 
Has link'd our names together in his lay, 
Lancelot, the flower of bravery, Guinevere, 
The pearl of beauty : and our knights at feast 
Have pledged us in this union, while the King 115 
Would listen smiling. How then ? is there more ? 
Has Arthur spoken aught? or would yourself, 
Now weary of my service and devoir, 
Henceforth be truer to your faultless lord? " 

She broke into a little scornful laugh : 120 

" Arthur, my lord, Arthur, the faultless King, 
That passionate perfection, my good lord — 
But who can gaze upon the Sun in heaven ? 
He never spake a woi'd of reproach to me, 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE " 91 

He never had a glimpse of mine nntruth, 125 

He cares not for me : only here to-day- 
There gleam'd a vague suspicion in his eyes : 
Some meddling rogue has tamper 'd with him — else 
Rapt in this fancy of his Table Round, 
And swearing men to vows impossible, 130 

To make them like himself : but, friend, to me 
He is all fault who has no fault at all : 
For who loves me must have a touch of earth ; 
Tlie low sun makes the color : I am j^ours, 
Not Arthur's, as ye know, save by the bond. 135 

And therefore hear my words : go to the jousts ; 
The tiny-trumpeting gnat can break our dream 
When sweetest ; and the vermin voices here 
-May buzz so loud — we scorn them, but they sting." 

Then answer'd Lancelot, the chief of knights : 140 
" And with what face, after my pretext made, 
Shall I appear, O Queen, at Camelot, I 
Before a King who honors his own word, 
As if it were his God's ? " 

" Yea," said the Queen, 
" A moral child without the craft to rule, 145 

Else had he not lost me: but listen to me. 
If I must find you wit : we hear it said 
That men go down before your spear at a touch, 
But knowing you are Lancelot; your great name. 
This conquers: hide it therefore ; go unknown: 150 
Win ! by this kiss you will : and our true King 
Will then allow your pretext, O my knight, 
As all for glory ; for to speak him true. 
Ye know right well, how meek soe'er he seem, 
No keener hunter after glory breathes. 155 



93 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

He loves it in his knights more than himself : 
They prove to him his work: win and return." 

Then got Sir Lancelot suddenly to horse, 
AVroth at himself. Not willing to be known, 
He left the barren-beaten thoroughfare, 160 

Chose the green path that show'd the rarer foot, 
And there among the solitary downs, 
Full often lost in fancy, lost his way ; 
Till as he traced a faintly-shadow'd track, 
That all in loops and links among the dales 165 

Kan to the Castle of Astolat, he saw 
F'ired from the west, far on a hill, the towers. 
Thither he made, and blew the gateway horn. 
Then came an old, dumb, myriad-wrinkled man 
Who let him into k)dging and disarm'd. 170 

And Lancelot marvell'd at the wordless man ; 
And issuing found the Lord of Astolat 
With two strong sons. Sir Torre and Sir Lavaine, 
Moving to meet him in the castle court ; 
And close behind them stept the lily maid 175 

Elaine, his daughter : mother of the house 
There was not; some light jest among them rose 
With laugliter dying down as the great knight 
Approach'd them : then the Lord of Astolat : 
" Whence comest thou, my guest, and by what name 180 
Li vest between the lips? for by thy state 
Anil presence I might guess the chief of those, 
Aftin- the King, who eat in Arthur's halls. 
Ilini have I seen : the rest, his Table Round, 
Known as they are, to me they are unknown." 185 

Then answer'd Lancelot, the chief of knights : 
" Known am I, and of Arthur's hall, and known, 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 93 

What I by mere mischance have brought, my shield, 

But since I go to joust as one unknown 

At Camelot for the diamond, ask me not, 190 

Hereafter ye shall know me — and the shield 

I pray you lend me one, if such you have. 
Blank, or at least with some device not mine." 

Then said the Lord of Astolat, " Here is Torre's : 
Hurt in his first tilt was my son, Sir Torre; 195 

And so, God wot, his shield is blank enough. 
His ye can have." Then added plain Sir Torre, 
" Yea, since I cannot use it, ye may have it." 
Here laughed the father saying, " Fie, Sir Churl, 
Is that an answer for a noble knight ? 200 

Allow him I but Lavaine, my younger here, 
He is so full of lustlihood, he will ride. 
Joust for it, and win, and bring it in an hour, 
And set it in this damsel's golden hair. 
To make her thrice as wilful as before." 205 

" Nay, father, nay, good father, shame me not 
Before this noble knight," said young Lavaine, 
"For nothing. Surely I but play'd on Torre: 
He seem'd so sullen, vext he could not go : 
A jest, no more! for, knight, the maiden dreamt 210 
That some one put this diamond in her hand, 
And that it was too slippery to be held. 
And slipt and fell into some pool or stream. 
The castle-well, belike ; and then I said 
That if I went and if I fought and won it 215 

(But all was jest and joke among ourselves) 
Then must she keep it safelier. All was jest. 
But, father, give me leave, an if he will. 
To ride to Camelot with this noble knight : 



94 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Win shall I not, but do my best to win : 220 

Young as I am, yet would I do my best." 

" So ye will grace me," answer'd Lancelot, 
Smiling a moment, '^ with your fellowship 
O'er these waste downs whereon I lost myself. 
Then were 1 glad of you as guide and friend: 225 

And you shall win this diamond — as I hear, 
It is a fair large diamond, — if ye may. 
And yield it to this maiden, if ye will." 
" A fair large diamond," added plain Sir Torre, 
" Such be for queens, and not for simple maids." 230 
Then she who held her eyes upon the ground, 
Elaine, and heard her name so tost about, 
Flush'd slightly at the slight disparagement 
Before the stranger knight, who, looking at her. 
Full courtly, yet not falsely, thus return 'd ; 235 

*' If what is fair be but for what is fair. 
And only queens are to be counted so, 
Kash were my judgment then, who deem this maid 
Might wear as fair a jewel as is on earth. 
Not violating the bond of like to like." 240 

He spoke and ceased : the lily maid Elaine, 
Won by the mellow voice before she look'd. 
Lifted her eyes, and read his lineaments. 
The great and guilty love he bare the Queen, 
In battle with the love he bare his lord, 245 

Had marr'd his face, and mark'd it ere his time. 
Another sinning on such heights with one. 
The flower of all the west and all the world, 
Had been the sleeker for it; but in him 
His mood was often like a fiend, and rose 250 

And drove him into wastes and solitudes 



LANCELOT /VND ELAINE 95 

For -agony, who was yet a living soul. 

Marr'd as he was, he seem'cl the goodliest man 

That ever among ladies ate in hall, 

And noblest, when she lifted up her eyes. 255 

However marr'd, of more than twice her years, 

Seam'd with an ancient swordcut on the cheek, 

And bruised and bronzed, she lifted up her eyes 

And loved him, with that love which was her doom. 

Then the great knight, the darling of the court, 2G0 
Loved of the loveliest, into that rude hall 
Stept with all grace, and not with half disdain 
Hid under grace, as in a smaller time, 
But kindly man moving among his kind : 
Whom they with meats and vintage of their best, 265 
And talk and minstrel melody entertain'd. 
And much they ask'd of court and Table Round, 
And ever well and readily answer'd he : 
But Lancelot, when they glanced at Guinevere, 
Suddenly speaking of the wordless man, 270 

Heard from the Baron that, ten years before, 
The heathen caught and reft him of his tongue. 
" He learnt and warn'd me of their fierce design 
Against my house, and him they caught and maim'd ; 
But I, my sons, and little daughter fled 275 

From bonds or death, and dwelt among the woods 
By the great river in a boatman's hut. 
Dull days were those, till our good Arthur broke 
The Pagan yet once more on Badon hill." 

" O there, great lord, doubtless," La value said, 
rapt 280 

By all the sweet and sudden passion of youth 
Toward greatness in its elder, " you have fought. 



9G SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

O tell us — for we live apart — you know 

Of Arthur's glorious wars." And Lancelot spoke 

And answerVl him at full, as having- been 285 

With Arthur in the fight which all day long 

Eang by the white mouth of the violent Gleni ; 

And in the four loud battles by the shore 

Of Duglas ; that on Bassa ; then the war 

That thunder'd in and out the gloomy skirts 290 

Of Celidon the forest : and again 

By castle G urn ion, where the glorious King 

Had on his cuirass worn our Lady's Head, 

Carved of one emerald center'd in a sun 

Of silver rays, that lighten'd as he breathed ; 295 

And at Caerleon had he help'd his lord. 

When the strong: neiohlnos of the wild White Horse 

Set every gilded parapet shuddering; 

And up in Agned-Cathregonion too. 

And down the waste sand-shores of Trath Treroit, soo 

Where many a heathen fell; " and on the mount 

Of Badon I myself beheld the King 

Charge at the head of all his Table Round, 

And all his legions crying Christ and him, 

And break them ; and I saw him, after, stand 305 

High on a heap of slain, from spur to plume 

Ked as the rising sun with heathen blood, 

And seeing me, with a great voice he cried, 

' They are broken, they are broken ! ' for the King 

However mild he seems at home, nor cares 310 

For triumph in our mimic wars, the jousts — 

For if his own knight cast him down, lie laughs, 

Saying, his knights are better men than he — 

Yet in this heathen war the fire of God 

Fills him: I never saw his like: there lives 315 

No greater leader." 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 97 

While he uttered this 
Low to her own heart said the lily maid, 
'' Save your great self, fair lord" : and when he fell 
From talk of war to traits of pleasantry — 
Being mirthful he, but in a stately kind — 320 

She still took note that when the living smile 
Died from his lips, across him came a cloud 
Of melancholy severe, from which again, 
Whenever in her hovering to and fro 
The lily maid had striven to make him cheer, 325 
There brake a sudden-beaming tenderness 
Of manners and of nature : and she thought 
That all was nature, all, perchance, for her. 
And all night long his face before her lived, 
As when a painter, poring on a face, 33O 

Divinely thro' all hindrance finds the man 
Behind it and so paints him that his face, 
The shape and color of a mind and life. 
Lives for his children, ever at its best 
And fullest ; so the face before her lived, 335 

Dark-splendid, speaking in the silence, full 
Of noble things, and held her from her sleep. 
Till rathe she rose, half-cheated in the thought 
She needs must bid farewell to sweet Lavaine. 
First as in fear, step after step, she stole 340 

Down the long tower-stairs, hesitating : 
Anon, she heard Sir Lancelot cry in the court, 
" This shield, my friend, where is it?" and Lavaine 
Past inward, as she came from out the tower. 
There to his proud horse Lancelot turn'd, and smootli'd 
The glossy shoulder, humming to himself. 346 

Half-envious of the flattering hand, she drew 
Nearer and stood. He look'd, and more amazed 
Than if seven men had set upon him, saw 



98 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

The maiden standing in the dewy light. 350 

He had not dreain'd she was so beautifuL 

Then came on him a sort of sacred fear, 

For silent, tho' he greeted her, she stood 

Kaj)t on his face as if it were a god's. 

Suddenly flash'd on her a wild desire, 355 

That he should wear her favor at the tilt. 

She braved a riotous heart in asking for it. 

" Fair lord, whose name I know not — noble it is, 

I well believe, the noblest — will you wear 

My favor at this tourney? " ^' Nay," said he, 360 

" Fair lady, since I never yet have worn 

Favor of any lady in the lists. 

Such is my wont, as those who know me know." 

*' Yea, so," she answer'd : " then in wearing mine 

Needs must be lesser likelihood, noble lord, 365 

That those who know should know you." And he turn'd 

Her counsel up and down within his mind. 

And found it true, and answer'd : " True, my child. 

Well, I will wear it : fetch it out to me: 

What is it? " and she told him " A red sleeve 370 

Broider'd with pearls," and brought it : then he bound 

Her token on his helmet, with a smile. 

Saying, *' I never yet have done so much 

For any maiden living," and the blood 

Sprang to her face and fill'd her with delight ; 375 

But left her all tlie paler, when Lavaine 

Returning brought the yet-unblazon'd shield, 

His brother's ; which he gave to Lancelot, 

Who parted with his own to fair Elaine : 

" Do me this grace, my child, to have my shield 380 

In keeping till I come." " A grace to me," 

She answer'd, *' twice to-day. 1 am your squire!" 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 99 

Whereat Lavaine said, laughing, " Lily maid, 
For fear our people call you lily maid 
In earnest, let me bring your color back ; 335 

Once, twice, and thrice : now get you hence to bed." 
So kiss'd her, and Sir Lancelot his own hand, 
And thus they moved away : she stayed a minute, 
Then made a sudden step to the gate, and there — 
Her bright hair blown about the serious face 399 

Yet rosy -kindled with her brother's kiss 

Paused by the gateway, standing near the shield 
In silence, while she watch'd their arms far-off 
Sparkle, until they dipt below the downs. 
Then to her tower she climb'd, and took the shield, 395 
There kept it, and so lived in fantasy. 

Meanwhile the new companions past away 
Far o'er the long backs of the bushless downs, 
To where Sir Lancelot knew there lived a knight 
Not far from Camelot, now for forty years 49O 

A hermit, who had pray'd, labor'd and pray'd, 
And ever laboring had scoop'd himself 
In the white rock a chapel and a hall 
On massive columns, like a shorecliff cave. 
And cells and chambers : all were fair and dry ; 495 
The green light from the meadows underneath 
Struck up and lived along the milky roofs ; 
And in the meadows tremulous aspen-trees 
And poplars made a noise of falling showers. 
And thither wending there that night they bode. 410 

But when the next day broke from underground, 
And shot red fire and shadows thro' the cave. 
They rose, heard mass, broke fast, and rode away : 
Then Lancelot saying, " Hear, but hold my name 



100 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Hidden, you ride witli Lancelot of the Lake," 415 

Abash'd Lavaine, whose instant reverence, 

Dearer to trne young hearts than their own praise, 

But left him leave to stammer, " Is it indeed ? " 

And after muttering "The great Lancelot," 

At last he got his breath and answer'd, " One, 420 

One have I seen — that other, our liege lord, 

The dread Pendragon, Britain's King of kings, 

Of whom the people talk mysteriously, 

He wiU be there — theu were I stricken blind 

That minute, I might say that I had seen." 425 

So spake Lavaine, and when they reach'd the lists 
By Camelot in the meadow, let his eyes 
Run thro' the peopled gallery v/hich half round 
Lay like a rainbow faU'n upon the grass. 
Until they found the clear-faced King, who sat 430 
Robed in red samite, easily to be known. 
Since to his crown the golden dragon clung, 
And down his robe the dragon writhed in gold. 
And from the carven-work behind him crept 
Two dragons gilded, sloping down to make 435 

Arms for his chair, while all the rest of them 
Thro' knots and loops and folds innumerable 
Fled ever thro' the woodwork, till they found 
The new design wherein they lost themselves, 
Yet with all ease, so tender was the work: 440 

And, in the costly canopy o'er him set, 
Blazed the last diamond of the nameless king. 

Then Lancelot answer'd young Lavaine and said, 
" Me you call great : mine is the firmer seat, 
The truer lance : but there is many a youth 445 

Now crescent, who will come to all I am 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 101 

And overcome it ; and in me there dwells 

No greatness, save it be some far-off touch 

Of greatness to know well I am not great : 

There is the man." And Lavaine gaped upon him 450 

As on a thing miraculous, and anon 

The trumpets blew ; and then did either side, 

They that assail'd, and they that held the lists, 

Set lance in rest, strike spur, suddenly move, 

Meet in the midst, and there so furiously 455 

Shock, that a man far-off might well perceive, 

If any man that day were left afield, 

The hard earth shake, and a low thunder of arms. 

And Lancelot bode a little, till he saw 

Which were the weaker ; then he hurl'd into it 460 

Against the stronger: little need to speak 

Of Lancelot in his glory ! King, duke, earl, 

Count, baron — whom he smote, he overthrew. 

But in the field were Lancelot's kith and kin, 
Ranged with the Table Round that held the lists, 465 
Strong men, and wrathful that a stranger knight 
Should do and almost overdo the deeds 
Of Lancelot; and one said to the other, "Lo! 
What is he? I do not mean the force alone — 
The grace and versatility of the man ! 470 

Is it not Lancelot ? " "When has Lancelot worn 
Favor of any lady in the lists ? 
Not such his wont, as we that know him know." 
" How then? who then? " a fury seized them all, 
A fiery family passion for the name 475 

Of Lancelot, and a glory one with theirs. 
They couch'd their spears and prick'd their steeds, 

and thus 
Their plumes driv'n backward by the wind they made 



102 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE EING 

In moving, all together down upon him 

Bare, as a wild wave in the wide North-sea, 480 

Green-glimmering toward the summit, bears, with all 

Its stormy crests that smoke against the skies, 

Down on a bark, and overbears the bark. 

And him that helms it, so they overbore 

Sir Lancelot and his charger, and a spear 485 

Down-glancing lamed the charger, and a spear 

Prick'd sharply his own cuirass, and the head 

Pierced thro' his side, and there snapt, and remain'd. 

Then Sir Lavaine did well and worshipfully ; 
He bore a knight of old repute to the earth, 490 

And brought his horse to Lancelot where he lay. 
He up the side, sweating with agony, got. 
But thought to do while he might yet endure, 
And being lustily holpen by the rest. 
His party, — tho' it seem'd half-miracle 495 

To those he fought with, — drave his kith and kin, 
And all the Table Round that held the lists. 
Back to the barrier ; then the trumpets blew 
Proclaiming his the prize, who wore the sleeve 
Of scarlet, and the pearls ; and all the knights, 50O 
His party, cried " Advance and take thy prize 
The diamond ; " but he answer'd, " Diamond me 
No diamonds ! for God's love, a little air ! 
Prize me no prizes, for my prize is death ! 
Hence will I, and I charge you follow me not." 505 

He spoke, and vanish'd suddenly from the field 
With young Lavaine into the poplar grove. 
There from his charger down he slid, and sat, 
Gasping to Sir Lavaine, " Draw the lance-head : " 
"Ah my sweet lord Sir Lancelot," said Lavaine, 510 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 103 

" I dread me, if I draw it, you will die." 

But he, " I die already with it : draw — 

Di-avv," — and Lavaine drew, and Sir Lancelot gave 

A marvellous great shriek and ghastly groan. 

And half his blood burst forth, and down he sank 515 

For the pure pain, and wholly swoon'd away. 

Then came the hermit out and bare him in. 

There stanch'd his wound ; and there, in daily doubt 

Whether to live or die, for many a week 

Hid from the wide world's rumor by the grove 520 

Of poplars with their noise of falling showers. 

And ever-tremulous aspen-trees, he lay. 

But on that day when Lancelot fled the lists, 
His party, knights of utmost North and West, 
Lords of waste marches, kings of desolate isles, 525 
Came round their great Pendragon, saying to him, 
" Lo, Sire, our knight, thro' whom we won the day, 
Hath gone sore wounded, and hath left his prize 
Untaken, crying that his prize is death." 
" Heaven hinder," said the King, " that such an one, 530 
So great a knight as we have seen to-day — 
He seem'd to me another Lancelot — 
Yea, twenty times I thought him Lancelot — 
He must not pass uncared for. Wherefore, rise, 

Gawain, and lide forth and find the knight. 535 
Wounded and wearied, needs must he be near. 

1 charge you tliat you get at once to horse. 

And, knights and idngs, tliere breathes not one of you 

Will deem this prize of ours is rashly given : 

His prowess was too wondrous. We will do him 540 

No customary honor : since the knight 

Came not to us, of us to claim the prize, 

Ourselves will send it after. Rise and take 



104 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

This diainoiul, and deliver it, and return, 

And bring' us where he is, and how he fares, 545 

And cease not from your quest until ye find.'* 

So saying-, from the carven flower above. 
To which it made a restless heart, he took, 
And gave, the diamond ; then from where he sat 
At Arthur's right, with smiling face arose, 550 

With smiling face and frowning heart, a Prince 
In the mid might and flourish of his May, 
Gawain, surnamed The Courteous, fair and strong, 
And after Lancelot, Tristram, and Geraint 
And Gareth, a good knight, but therewithal 555 

Sir Modred's brother, and the child of Lot, 
Nor often loyal to his word, and now^ 
Wroth that the King's command to sally forth 
In quest of whom he knew not, made him leave 
The banquet, and concourse of knights and kings. 560 

So all in wrath he got to horse and went; 
While Arthur to the banquet, dark in mood. 
Past, thinking, " Is it Lancelot who hath come 
Despite the wound he spake of, all for gain 
Of glory, and hath added wound to wound, 555 

And ridd'n away to die? " So feared the King, 
And, after two days' tarriance there, return'd. 
Then when he saw the Queen, embracing ask'd, 
*'Love, are you yet so sick?" "Nay, lord," she said. 
"And where is Lancelot?" Then the Queen amazed, 570 
" Was he not with you? won he not your prize?" 
" Nay, but one like him." " Why that like was he.'* 
And when the King demanded how she knew, 
Said, " Lord, no sooner had ye parted from us, 
Than Lancelot told me of a common talk 575 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 105 

That men went down before his spear at a touch, 
But knowing he was Lancelot ; his great name 
Conquer'd ; and therefore would he hide his name 
From all men, ev'n the King, and to this end 
Had made the pretext of a hindering wound, 580 

That he might joust unknown of all, and learn 
If his old prowess were in aught decay'd ; 
And added, * Our true Arthur, when he learns, 
Will well allow mj pretext, as for gain 
Of purer glory.' " 

Then replied the King : 585 

" Far lovelier in our Lancelot had it been, 
Li lieu of idly dallying with the truth. 
To have trusted me as he hath trusted thee. 
Surely his King and most familiar friend 
Might well have kept his secret. True, indeed, 590 
Albeit I know my knights fantastical, 
So fine a fear in our large Lancelot 
Must needs have moved my laughter : now remains 
But little cause for laughter : his own kin — 
111 news, my Queen, for all who love him, this ! — 595 
His kith and kin, not knowing, set upon him ; 
So that he went sore wounded from the field : 
Yet good news too : for goodly hopes are mine 
That Lancelot is no more a lonely heart. 
He wore, against his wont, upon his helm 600 

A sleeve of scarlet, broider'd with great pearls, 
Some gentle maiden's gift." 

"Yea, lord," she said, 
" Thy hopes are mine," and saying that, she choked, 
And sharply turn'd about to hide her face. 
Past to her chamber, and there flung herself 605 



IOC SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Down on the great King's couch, and writhed upon it, 
And elencIiM her fingers till they bit the palm, 
And shriek'd out ^' Traitor ! " to the unhearing wall. 
Then flash'd into wild tears, and rose again, 
And moved about her palace, proud and pale. 610 

Gawain the while thro' all the region round 
Kode with his diamond, wearied of the quest, 
Toucird at all points, except the poplar grove. 
And came at last, tho' late, to Astolat : 
Whom glittering in enamell'd arms the maid 615 

Glanced at, and cried, " What news from Camelot, lord ? 
What of the knight with the red sleeve ? " '^ He won." 
" I knew it," she said. " But parted from the jousts 
Hurt in the side," whereat she caught her breath ; 
Thro' her own side she felt the sharp lance go ; 620 
Thereon she smote her hand; wellnigh she swoon'd; 
And, while he gazed wonderingly at her, came 
The Lord of Astolat out, to whom the Prince 
Reported who he was, and on what quest 
Sent, that he bore the prize and could not find 625 
The victor, but had ridd'n a random round 
To seek him, and had wearied of the search. 
To whom the Lord of Astolat, " Bide with us. 
And ride no more at random, noble Prince! 
Here was the knight, and here he left a shield ; 630 
This will he send or come for: furthermore 
Our son is with him ; we shall hear anon, 
Needs must we hear." To this the courteous Prince 
Accorded with liis wonted courtesy. 
Courtesy with a touch of traitor in' it, 635 

And stay'd; and cast his eves on fair Elaine- 
Where could be found face daintier? then her shape, 
h rom forehead down to foot, perfect — a-ain 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 107 

From foot to forehead exquisitely turn'd : 

" Well — if 1 bide, lo ! this wild flower for me I " 640 

And oft they met among the garden yews, 

And there he set himself to play upon her 

With sallying wit, free flashes from a height 

Above her, graces of the court, and sougs, 

Sighs, and slow smiles, and golden eloquence 645 

And amorous adulation, till the maid 

Eebell'd against it, sayiug to him, " Prince, 

O loyal nephew of our noble King, 

Why ask you not to see the shield he left, 

Whence you might learn his name? Why slight 

your King 650 

And lose the quest he sent you on, and prove 
No surer than our falcon yesterday. 
Who lost the hern we sllpt her at, and went 
To all the winds? " "Nay, by mine liead," said he, 
" I lose it, as we lose the lark in heaven, 055 

O damsel, in the light of your blue eyes ; 
But an ye will it let me see the shield." 
And when the shield was brought, and Gawain saw 
Sir Lancelot's azure lions, crown 'd with gold, 
Ramp in the field, he smote his thigh, and mock'd : CGO 
" Rio^ht was the Kino! our Lancelot! that true man !" 
"And right was I," she auswer'd merrily, "I, 
Who dream'd my knight the greatest knight of alL" 
'• And if /dream'd," said Gawain, " that you love 
This greatest knight, your pardon ! lo, ye know it ! 665 
Speak therefore : shall I waste myself in vain?'* 
Full simple was her answer, "What know I? 
My brethren have been all my fellowship; 
And I, when often they have talk'd of love, 
Wish'd it had been my mother, for they talk'd, 670 
Meseeni'd, of what they knew not; so myself — 



108 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

I know not if 1 know what true love is, 

But if I know, then, if I love not him, 

I know there is none other I can love." 

" Yea, by God's death," said he, " ye love him well. 

But would not, knew ye what all others know, 676 

And whom he loves." "So be it," cried Elaine, 

And lifted her fair face and moved away: 

But he pursued her, calling, "Stay a little! 

One golden minute's grace! he wore your sleeve: 680 

Would he break faith with one I may not name ? 

Must our true man change like a leaf at last? 

Nay — like enow: why then, far be it from me 

To cross our mighty Lancelot in his loves! 

And, damsel, for I deem you know full well 685 

Where your great knight is hidden, let me leave 

My quest with you ; the diamond also: here ! 

For if you love, it will be sweet to give it; 

And if he love, it will be sweet to have it 

From your own hand ; and whether he love or not, 690 

A diamond is a diamond. Fare you well 

A thousand times! — a thousand times farewell! 

Yet, if he love, and his love hold, we two 

May meet at court hereafter : there, I think, 

So ye will learn the courtesies of the court, 695 

We two shall know each other." 

Then he gave. 
And slightly kiss'd the hand to which he gave. 
The diamond, and all wearied of the quest 
Leapt on his horse, and carolling as he went 
A true-love ballad, lightly rode away. 700 

Thence to the court he past; there told the King 
What the King knew, "Sir Lancelot is the knight." 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 109 

And added, "Sire, my liege, so much I learnt; 

But fail'd to find him tho' I rode all round 

The region : but I lighted on the maid 705 

Whose sleeve he wore ; she loves him : and to her. 

Deeming our courtesy is the truest law, 

I gave the diamond : she will render it ; 

For by mine head she knows his hiding-place." 

The seldom-frowning Kingfrown'd, and replied, 710 
" Too courteous truly ! ye shall go no more 
On quest of mine, seeing that ye forget 
Obedience is the courtesy due to kings." 

He spake and parted. Wroth, but all in awe, 
For twenty strokes of the blood, without a word, 715 
Linger'd that other, staring after him ; 
Then shook his hair, strode off, and buzz'd abroad 
About the maid of Astolat, and her love. 
All ears were prick'd at once, all tongues were loosed : 
" The maid of Astolat loves Sir Lancelot, 720 

Sir Lancelot loves the maid of Astolat." 
Some read the King's face, some the Queen's, and all 
Had marvel what the maid might be, but most 
Predoom'd her as unworthy. One old dame 
Came suddenly on the Queen with the sharji news. 725 
She, that had heard the noise of it before, 
But sorrowing Lancelot should have stoop'd so lov/, 
Marr'd her friend's aim with pale tranquillity. 
So ran the tale like fire about the court, 
Fire in dry stubble a nine-days' wonder flared : 730 
Till ev'n the knights at banquet twice or thrice 
Forgot to drink to Lancelot and the Queen, 
And pledging Lancelot and the lily maid 
Smiled at each other, while the Queen, who sat 



no SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

With lips severely placid, felt the knot 735 

Climb in her throat, and with her feet unseen 
Crush'd the wild passion out against the floor 
Beneath the banquet, where the meats became 
As wormwood, and she hated all who pledged. 

But far away the maid in Astolat, 740 

Her guiltless rival, she that ever kept 
The one-day-seen Sir Lancelot in her heart, 
Crept to her father, while he mused alone, 
Sat on his knee, stroked his gray face and said, 
*' Father, you call me wilful, and the fault 745 

Is yours who let me have my will, and now, 
Sweet father, will you let me lose my wits?" 
"Nay," said he, " surely." " Wherefore, let me hence,*' 
She answer'd, " and find out our dear Lavaine." 
" Ye will not lose your wits -for dear Lavaine ; 750 
Bide," answer'd he: "we needs must hear anon 
Of him, and of that other." " Ay," she said, 
" And of that other, for I needs must hence 
And find that other, wheresoe'er he be, 
And with mine own hand give his diamond to him, 755 
Lest 1 be found as faithless in the quest 
As yon proud Prince who left the quest to me. 
Sweet father, I behold him in my dreams 
Gaunt as it were the skeleton of himself. 
Death-pale, for lack of gentle maiden's aid. 760 

Tlie gentler-born the maiden, the more bound, 
My father, to be sweet and serviceable 
To noble knights in sickness, as ye know. 
When these have worn their tokens : let me hence, 
I pray you." Then her father nodding said, 765 

" Ay, ay, the diamond : wit ye well, my child, 
Kight fain wer§ I to learn this knight were whole, 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 111 

Being our greatest : yea, and you must give it — 
And sure I think this fruit is hung too high 
For any mouth to gape for save a queen's — 770 

Nay, I mean nothing: so then, get you gone, 
Being so very wilful you must go." 

Lightly, her suit allow'd, she slipt away, 
And while she made her ready for her ride. 
Her father's latest word humm'd in her ear, 775 

*' Being so very wilful you must go," 
And changed itself and echo'd in her heart, 
" Being so very wilful you must die." 
But she was happy enough and shook it off. 
As we shake off the bee that buzzes at us ; 780 

And in her heart she answer'd it and said, 
" What matter, so I help him back to life ? " 
Then far away with good Sir Torre for guide 
Rode o'er the long backs of the bushless downs 
To Camelot, and before the city-gates 785 

Came on her brother with a happy face 
Making a roan horse caper and curvet 
For pleasure all about a field of flowers : 
Whom when she saw," Lavaine," she cried, ** Lavaine, 
How fares my lord Sir Lancelot?" He amazed, 790 
"Torre and Elaine! why here? Sir Lancelot? 
How know ye my lord's name is Lancelot?'* 
But when the maid had told him all her tale. 
Then turn'd Sir Torre, and being in his moods 
Left them, and under the strange-statued gate, 795 
Where Arthur's wars were render'd mystically. 
Past up the still rich city to his kin. 
His own far blood, which dwelt at Camelot ; 
And her Lavaine across the poplar grove 
Led to the caves : there first she saw the casque 800 



112 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE E3NG 

Of Lancelot on the wall : her scarlet sleeve, 

Tho' carved and cut, and half the pearls away, 

Stream'd from it still ; and in her heart she laugh'd, 

Because he had not loosed it from his helm, 

But meant once moi-e perchance to tourney in it. 805 

And when they gain'd the cell wherein he slept, 

His battle-writheu arms and mighty hands 

Lay naked on the wolfskin, and a dream 

Of dragging down his enemy made them move. 

Then she that saw him lying unsleek, nnshorn, 810 

Gaunt as it were the skeleton of himself, 

Utter'd a little tender dolorous cry. 

The sound not wonted in a place so still 

Woke the sick knight, and while he roll'd his eyes 

Yet blank from sleep, she started to him, saying, 815 

" Your prize the diamond sent you by the King : " 

His eyes giisten'd : she fancied " Is it for me ? " 

And when the maid had told him all the tale 

Of King and Prince, the diamond sent, the quest 

Assign'd to her not worthy of it, she knelt 820 

Full lowly by the corners of his bed. 

And laid the diamond in his open hand. 

Her face was near, and as we kiss the child 

That does the task assign'd, he kiss'd her face. 

At once she slipt like water to the floor. 825 

" Alas," he said, " your ride hath wearied you. 

Rest must you have." " No rest for me," she said; 

" Nay, for near you, fair lord, I am at rest." 

What might she mean by that? his large black eyes, 

Yet larger thro' his leanness, dwelt upon her, 830 

Till all her heart's sad secret blazed itself 

In the heart's colors on her simple face ; 

And Lancelot look'd and was perplext in mind, 

And being weak in body said no more ; 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE ' lis 

But did not love the color; woman's love, 835 

Save one, he not regarded, and so turn'd 
Sighing, and feign'd a sleep until he slept. 

Then rose Elaine and glided thro' the fields. 
And past beneath the weirdly-sculptured gates 
Far up the dim rich city to her kin ; 840 

There bode the night ; but woke with dawn, and 

past 
Down thro' the dim rich city to the fields, 
Thence to the cave : so day by day she past 
In either twilight ghost-like to and fro 
Gliding, and every day she tended him, 845 

And likewise many a night : and Lancelot 
Would, tho' he .call'd his wound a little hurt 
Whereof he should be quickly whole, at times 
Brain-feverous in his heat and agony, seem 
Uncourteous, even he : but the meek maid 850 

Sweetly forebore him ever, being to him 
Meeker than any child to a rough nurse, 
Milder than any mother to a sick child, 
And never woman yet, since man's first fall, 
Did kindlier unto man, but her deep love 855 

Upbore her; till the hermit, skill'd in all 
The simples and the science of that time. 
Told him tliat her fine care had saved his life. 
And the sick man forgot her simple blush. 
Would call her friend and sister, sweet Elaine, 860 
Would listen for her coming and regret 
Her parting step, and held her tenderly. 
And loved her with all love except the love 
Of man and woman when they love their best. 
Closest and sweetest, and had died the death 865 

In any knightly fashion for her sake. 



114 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

And peradventure had he seen her first 

She miglit have made this and that other world 

Another workl for the sick man ; but now 

The shackles of an okl love straiten'd him, 870 

His honor rooted in dishonor stood, 

And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true. 

Yet the great knight in his mid-sickness made 
Full many a holy vow and pure resolve. 
These, as but born of sickness, could not live ; 875 
For when the blood ran lustier in him again, 
Full often the bright image of one face. 
Making a treacherous quiet in his heart, 
Dispersed his resolution like a cloud. 
Then if the maiden, while that ghostly grace 880 

Beam'd on his fancy, spoke, he answer'd not, 
Or short and coldly, and she knew right well 
What the rough sickness meant, but what this meant 
She knew not, and the sorrow dimm'd her sight. 
And drave her ere her time across the the fields 885 
Far into the rich city, where alone 
She murmur'd, " Vain, in vain : it cannot be. 
He will not love me : how then ? must I die ?" 
Then as a little helpless innocent bird. 
That has but one plain passage of few notes, 890 

Will sing the simple passage o'er and o'er 
For all an April morning, till the ear 
Wearies to hear it, so the simple maid 
Went half the night repeating, "Must I die?" 
And now to right she turn'd, and now to left, 895 

And found no ease in turning or in rest ; 
And " Ilim or death," she mutter'd, " death or 

him," 
Again and like a burthen, " Him or death." 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 115 

But when Sir Lancelot's deadly hurt was whole, 
To Astolat returning rode the three. 900 

There morn by morn, arraying her sweet self 
In that wherein she deem'd she look'd her best, 
She came before Sir Lancelot, for she thought 
" If I be loved, these are my festal robes, 
If not, the victim's flowers before he fall." 905 

And Lancelot ever prest upon the maid 
That she should ask some goodly gift of him 
For her own self or hers ; " and do not shun 
To speak the wish most near to your true heart ; 
Such service have ye done me, that I make 910 

My will of yours, and Prince and Lord am I 
In mine own land, and what I will I can." 
Then like a ghost she lifted up her face. 
But like a ghost without the power to speak. 
And Lancelot saw that she withheld her wish, 915 
And bode among them yet a little space 
Till he should learn it ; and one morn it chanced 
He found her in among the garden yews. 
And said, " Delay no longer, speak your wish, 
Seeing I go to-day:" then out she brake: 920 

" Going ? and we shall never see you more. 
And I must die for want of one bold word." 
" Speak ; that I live to hear," he said, " is yours." 
Then suddenly and passionately she spoke : 
" I have gone mad. I love you : let me die." 925 

" Ah, sister," answer'd Lancelot, " what is this ? " 
And innocently extending her white arms, 
" Your love," she said, " your love — to be your wife." 
And Lancelot answer'd, " Had I chosen to wed, 
I Iiad been wedded earlier, sweet Elaine : 930 

But now there never will be wife of mine." 
'^ No, no," she cried, " I care not to be wife, 



116 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KLNG 

But to be with you still, to see your face, 

To serve you, and to follow you thro' the world." 

Aud Lancelot answer'd, " Nay, the world, the world. 

All ear and eye, with such a stupid heart 936 

To interpret ear and eye, and such a tongue 

To blare its own interpretation — nay. 

Full ill then should I quit your brother's love, 

And your good father's kindness." And she said, 940 

" Not to be with you, not to see your face — 

Alas for me then, my good days are done." 

" Nay, noble maid," he answer'd, '' ten times nay ! 

This is not love : but love's first flash in youth. 

Most common : yea, 1 know it of mine own self : 945 

And you yourself will smile at your own self 

Hereafter, when you yield your flower of life 

To one more fitly yours, not thrice your age : 

And then will I, for true you are and sweet, 

Beyond mine old belief in womanhood, 950 

More specially should your good knight be poor. 

Endow you with broad land and territory, 

Even the half my realm beyond the seas, 

So that would make you happy : furthermore, 

Ev'n to the death, as tho' ye were my blood, 955 

In all your quarrels will I be your knight. 

This will I do, dear damsel, for your sake, 

And more than this I cannot." 

While he spoke 
She neither blush'd nor shook, but deathly-pale 
Stood grasping what was nearest, then replied : 960 
" Of all this will 1 nothing ; " and so fell. 
And thus they bore her swooning to her tower. 

Then spake, to whom thro' those black walls of yew 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 117 

Their talk had pierced, her father : '' Ay, a flash, 

I fear me, that will strike my blossom dead. 965 

Too courteous are ye, fair Lord Lancelot. 

I pray you use some rough discourtesy 

To blunt or break her passion." 

Lancelot said, 
"That were against me : what I can I will"; 
And there that day remain'd and toward even 970 
Sent for his shield : full meekly rose tlie maid, 
Stript off the case, and gave the naked shield ; 
Then, when she heard his horse upon the stones, 
Unclasping flung the casement back, and look'd 
Down on his helm, from which her sleeve had gone. 
And Lancelot knew the little clinking sound ; 976 
And she by tact of love was well aware 
That Lancelot knew that she was lookins: at him. 
And yet he glanced not up, nor waved his hand, 
Nor bade farewell, but sadly rode away. 980 

This was the one discourtesy that he used. 

So in her tower alone the maiden sat : 
His very shield was gone; only the case, 
Her own poor work, her empty labor, left. 
But still she heard him, still his picture form'd 985 
And grew between her and the pictured wall. 
Then came her father, saying in low tones, 
" Have comfort," whom she greeted quietly. 
Then came her brethren saying, " Peace to thee, 
Sweet sister," whom she answer'd with all cahn. 990 
But when they left her to herself again. 
Death, like a friend's voice from a distant field 
Approaching thro' the darkness, calFd; the owls 
Wailing had power upon her, and she mixt 



118 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Her fancies with the sallow-vifted glooms 995 

Of evening, and the moanings of the wind. 

And in those days she made a little song, 
And caird her song '^The Song of Love and Death," 
And sang it : sweetly could she make and sing. 

" Sweet is true love tho' given in vain, in vam ; 1000 
•And sweet is death, who puts an end to pain: 
I know not which is sweeter, no, not I. 

"Love, art thou sweet? then bitter death must he: 
Love, thou art bitter ; sweet is death to me. 

Love, if death be sweeter, let me die. 1005 

" Sweet love, that seems not made to fade away, 
Sweet death, that seems to make us loveless clay, 

1 know not which is sweeter, no, not I. 

" I fain would follow love, if that could be ; 
I needs must follow death, who calls for me; 1010 
Call and I follow, I follow ! let me die." 

High with the last line scaled her voice, and this, 
All in a fiery dawning wild with wind 
That shook her tower, the brothers heard, and 

thought 
With shuddering, '' Hark the Phantom of the hou o 
That ever shrieks before a death," and calFd 1016 
The father, and all tliree in hurry and fear 
Kan to her, and lo ! the blood-red light of dawn 
Flared on lier face, she shrilling, '' Let me die ! " 

As when we dwell upon a word we know, 1020 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 119 

Repeating, till the word we know so well 

Becomes a wonder, and we know not why, 

So dwelt the father on her face, and thoujrht 

" Is this Elaine?" till back the maiden fell, 

Then gave a languid hand to each, and lay, 1025 

Speaking a still good-morrow with her eyes. 

At last she said, " Sweet brothers, yesternight 

I seem'd a curious little maid again, 

As haj)py as when we dwelt among the woods, 

And when ye used to take me with the flood 1030 

Up the great river in the boatman's boat. 

Only ye would not pass beyond the cape 

That has the poplar on it: there ye fixt 

Your limit, oft returning with the tide. 

And yet I cried because ye would not pass 1035 

Beyond it, and far up the shining flood 

Until we found the palace of the King. 

And yet ye would not; but this night 1 dream'd 

That I was all alone upon the flood. 

And then I said, 'Now shall I have my will ' : 1040 

And there I woke, but still the wish remaiu'd. 

So let me hence that I may pass at last 

Beyond the poplar and far up the flood, 

Until I find the palace of the King. 

There will I enter in among them all, 1045 

And no man there will dare to mock at me ; 

But there the fine Gawain will wonder at me. 

And there the great Sir Lancelot muse at me ; 

Gawain, who bade a thousand farewells to me, 

Lancelot, who coldly went, nor bade me one : 1050 

And there the King will know me and my love, 

And there the Queen herself will pity me, 

And all the gentle court will welcome me, 

And after my long voyage I shall rest ! " 



120 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

'' Peace," said her father, " O my child, ye seem 1055 
Light-headed, for what force is yours to go 
So far, being sick? and wherefore would ye look 
On this proud fellow again, who scorns us all?" 

Then the rough Torre began to heave and move 
And bluster into stormy sobs and say, 1060 

"' I never loved him : an I meet with him, 
I care not howsoever great he be, 
Then will I strike at him and strike him down, 
Give me good fortune, I will strike him dead, 
For this discomfort he hath done the house." 1065 

To whom the gentle sister made reply, 
" Fret not yourself, dear brother, nor be wroth, 
Seeing it is no more Sir Lancelot's fault 
Not to love me, than it is mine to love 
Him of all men who seems to me the highest." 1070 

" ' Highest? ' " the father answer'd, echoing " highest" 
(He meant to break the passion in her), '' nay. 
Daughter, I know not what you call the highest; 
But this I know, for all the people know it. 
Ho loves the Queen, and in an open shame; 1075 

And she returns his love in open shame. 
If this be high, what is it to be low?" 

Then spake the lily maid of Astolat: 
" Sweet father, all too faint and sick am I 
For anger: these are slanders: never yet 1080 

Was noble man but made ionoble talk. 

o 

He makes no friend who never made a foe. 

But now it is my glory to have loved 

One peerless, without stain : so let me pass. 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 121 

My father, howsoe'er I seem to you, 1085 

Not all unhappy, having loved God's best 
And greatest, tho' my love had no return : 
Yet, seeing you desire your child to live, 
Thanks, but you work against your own desire ; 
For if I could believe the things you say, 1090 

I should but die the sooner; wherefore cease, 
Sweet father, and bid call the ghostly man 
Hither, and let me shrive me clean, and die." 

So when the ghostly man had come and gone, 
She, with a face bright as for sin forgiven, 1095 

Besought Lavaine to write as she devised 
A letter, word for word ; and when he ask'd, 
" Is it for Lancelot, is it for my dear lord? 
Then will I bear it gladly ; " she replied, 
'^ For Lancelot and the Queen and all the world, 1100 
But I myself must bear it." Then he wrote 
The letter she devised ; which being writ 
And folded, " O sweet father, tender and true, 
Deny me not," she said — ^'ye never yet 
Denied my fancies — this, however strange, 1105 

My latest : lay the letter in my hand 
A little ere I die, and close the hand 
Upon it; I shall guard it even in death. 
And when the heat is gone from out my heart. 
Then take the little bed on which I died 1110 

For Lancelot's love, and deck it like the Queen's 
For richness, and me also like the Queen 
In all I have of rich, and lay me on it. 
And let there be prepared a chariot-bier 
To take me to the river, and a barge 1115 

Be ready on the river, clothed in black. 
I go in state to court, to meet the Queen. 



122 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

There surely I shall speak for mine own self, 

And none of you can speak for nie so welL 

And therefore let our dumb old man alone 1120 

Go with me, he can steer and row, and he 

Will guide me to that palace, to the doors." 

She ceased : her father promised ; whereupon 
She grew so cheerful that they deem'd her death 
Was rather in the fantasy than the blood. 1125 

But ten slow mornings past, and on the eleventh 
Her father laid the letter in her hand, 
And closed the hand upon it, and she died. 
So that day there was dole in Astolat. 

But when the next sun brake from underground, 1130 
Then, these two brethren slowly with bent brows 
Accompanying, the sad chariot-bier 
Past like a shadow thro' the field, that shone 
Full-summer, to that stream whereon the barge, 
Pall'd all its length in blackest samite, lay. 1135 

There sat the lifelong creature of the house, 
Loyal, the dumb old servitor, on deck, 
Winking his eyes, and twisted all his face. 
So those two brethren from the chariot took 
And on the black decks laid her in her bed, 1140 

Set in her hand a lily, o'er her hung 
The silken case with braided blazonings. 
And kiss'd her quiet brows, and saying to her 
"■ Sister, farewell for ever," and again 
"Farewell, sweet sister," parted all in tears. 1145 

Then rose the dumb old servitor, and the dead, 
Oar'd by the dumb, went upward with the flood — 
In her right hand the lily, in her left 
The letter — all her bright hair streamiug down — 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 123 

And all tlie coverlid was cloth of gold 1150 

Drawn to her waist, and she herself in white 
All but her face, and that clear-featured face 
Was lovely, for she did not seem as dead, 
But fast asleep, and lay as tho' she smiled. 

That day Sir Lancelot at the palace craved 1155 
Audience of Guinevere, to give at last 
The price of half a realm, his costly gift, 
Hard-won and hardly won with bruise and blow, 
With deaths of others, and almost his own, 
The nine-years fought-for diamonds: for he saw 1160 
One of her house, and sent him to the Queen 
Bearing his wish, whereto the Queen agreed 
With such and so unmoved a majesty 
She might have seem'd her statue, but that he, 
Low-drooping till he wellnigh kiss'd her feet 1165 
For loyal awe, saw with a sidelong eye 
The shadow of some piece of pointed lace. 
In the Queen's shadow, vibrate on the walls, 
And parted, laughing in his courtly heart. 

All in an oriel on the summer side, 1170 

Vine-clad, of Arthur's palace toward the stream. 
They met, and Lancelot kneeling utter'd, " Queen, 
Lady, my liege, in whom I have my joy. 
Take, what I had not won except for you. 
These jewels, and make me happy, making them 1175 
An armlet for the roundest arm on earth. 
Or necklace for a neck to which the swan's 
Is tawnier than her cygnet's : these are words : 
Your beauty is your beauty, and I sin 
In speaking, yet O grant my worship of it 1180 

Words, as we grant grief tears. Such sin in words, 



lU SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Perchance, we both can pardon : but, my Queen, 

I hear of rumors flying thro' your court. 

Our bond, as not the bond of man and wife, 

Should have in it an absohiter trust 1186 

To make up that defect : let rumors be : 

When did not rumors fly? these, as I trust 

That you trust me in your own nobleness, 

I may not well believe that you believe." 

While thus he spoke, half turn'd away, the Queen 1190 
Brake from the vast oriel-embowering vine 
Leaf after leaf, and tore, and cast them off. 
Till all the place whereon she stood was green ; 
Then, when he ceased, in one cold passive hand 
Received at once and laid aside the gems 1195 

There on a table near her, and replied: 

" It may be, I am quicker of belief 
Than you believe me, Lancelot of the Lake. 
Our bond is not the bond of man and wife. 
This good is in it, whatsoe'er of ill, 1200 

It can be broken easier. I for you 
This many a year have done despite and wrong 
To one whom ever in my heart of hearts 
I did acknowledge nobler. What are these? 
Diamonds for me ! they had been thrice their worth 1205 
Being your gift, had you not lost your own. 
To loyal hearts the value of all gifts 
Must vary as the giver's. Not for me! 
For her ! for your new fancy. Only this 
Grant me, I pray you : have your joys apart. 1210 
I doubt not that however changed, you keep 
So much of what is graceful : and myself 
Would shun to break those bounds of courtesy 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE Ko 

In wliich as Arthur's Queen I move and rule : 

So cannot speak my mind. An end to this! 1215 

A strange one ! yet I take it with Amen. 

So pray you, add my diamonds to her pearls ; 

Deck her with these ; tell her, she shines me down : 

An armlet for an arm to which the Queen's 

Is haggard, or a necklace for a neck 1220 

O as much fairer — as a faith once fair 

Was richer than these diamonds — hers not mine — 

Nay, by the mother of our Lord himself, 

Or hers or mine, mine now to work my will — 

She shall not have them." 

Saying which she seized, 1225 
And thro' the casement standing wide for heat, 
Flung them, and down they flash'd, and smote the 

stream, 
Then from the smitten surface flash'd, as it were, 
Diamonds to meet them, and they past away. 
Then while Sir Lancelot leant, in half disdain 1230 
At love, life, all things, on the window ledge. 
Close underneath his eyes, and right across 
Where these had fallen, slowly past the barge 
Whereon the lily maid of Astolat 
Lay smiling, like a star in blackest night. 1235 

But the wild Queen, who saw not, burst away 
To weep and wail in secret ; and the barge. 
On to the palace-doorway sliding, paused. 
There two stood arm'd, and kept the door; to whom, 
All up the marble stair, tier over tier, 1240 

Were added mouths that gaped, and eyes that ask'd 
" What is it?" but that oarsman's haggard face, 
As hard and still as is the face that men 



U6 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Shape to their fancy's eye from broken rocks 

On some cliff-side, appall'd them, and they said, 1245 

''He is enchanted, cannot speak — and she, 

Look how she sleeps — the Fairy Queen, so fair! 

Yea, but how pale ! what are they? flesh and blood? 

Or come to take the King to Fairyland ? 

For some do hold our Arthur cannot die, 1250 

But that he passes into Fairyland." 

While thus they babbled of the King, the King 
Came girt with knights: then turn'd the tongueless 

man 
From the half-face to the full eye, and ros9 
And pointed to the damsel, and the doors. 1255 

So Arthur bade the meek Sir Percivale 
And pure Sir Galahad to uplift the maid ; 
And reverently they bore her into hall. 
Then came the fine Gawain and wonder'd at her. 
And Lancelot later came and mused at her, 1260 

And last the Queen herself, and pitied her : 
But Arthur spied the letter in her hand, 
Stoopt, took, brake seal, and read it ; this was all : 

'* Most noble lord, Sir Lancelot of the Lake, 
I, sometime call'd the maid of Astolat, 1265 

Come, for you left me taking no farewell, 
Hither, to take my last farewell of you. 
I loved you, and my love had no return, 
And therefore my true love has been my death. 
And therefore to our Lady Guinevere, 1270 

And to all other ladies, I make moan. 
Pray for my soul, and yield me burial. 
Pray for my soul thou, too, Sir Lancelot, 
As thou art a knight peerless." 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 127 

Thus he read : 
And ever in the reading, lords and dames 1275 

Wept, looking often from his face who read 
To hers which lay so silent, and at times. 
So touch'd were they, half-thinking that her lips, 
Who had devised the letter, moved again. 

Then freely spoke Sir Lancelot to them all: 1280 
" My lord liege Arthur, and all ye that hear 
Know that for this most gentle maiden's death, 
Eight heavy am I ; for good she was and true, 
But loved ine with a love beyond all love 
In woman, whomsoever I have known. 1285 

Yet to be loved makes not to love again ; 
Not at my years, however it hold in youth. 
I swear by truth and knighthood that I gave 
No cause, not willingly, for such a love : 
To this I call my friends in testimony, 1290 

Her brethren, and her father, who himself 
Besought me to be plain and blunt, and use, 
To break her passion, some discourtesy 
Against my nature : what I could, I did. 
I left her and I bade her no farewell ; 1295 

Tho', had I dreamt the damsel would have died, 
I might have put my wits to some rough use. 
And help'd her from herself." 

Then said the Queen 
(Sea was her wrath, yet working after storm) 
" Ye might at least have done her so much grace, 1300 
Fair lord, as would have help'd her from her 

death." 
He raised his head, their eyes met and hers fell, 
He adding : 



128 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

" Queen, she would not be content 
Save that I wedded her, which could not be. 
Then might she follow me thro' the world, she ask'd ; 1305 
It could not be. I told her that her love 
Was but the flash of youth, would darken down 
To rise hereafter in a stiller flame 
Toward one more worthy of her — then would I, 
More specially were he she wedded poor, 1310 

Estate them with large land and territory 
In mine own realm beyond the narrow seas, 
To keep them in all joyance : more than this 
I could not ; this she would not, and she died." 

He pausing, Arthur answer'd, " O my knight, 1315 
It will be to thy worship, as my knight. 
And mine, as head of all our Table Kound, 
To see that she be buried worshipfuUy." 

So toward that shrine which then in all the realm 
Was richest, Arthur leading, slowly went 1320 

Tlie marshall'd Order of their Table Round, 
And Lancelot sat beyond his wont, to see 
The maiden buried, not as one unknown, 
Nor meanly, but with gorgeous obsequies. 
And mass, and rolling music, like a queen. 1325 

And when the knights had laid her comely head 
Low in the dust of half-foro^otten kiners. 
Then Arthur spake among them, " Let her tomb 
Be costly, and her image thereupon, 
And let the sliield of Lancelot at her feet 1330 

Be carven, and her lily in her hand. 
And let the story of her dolorous voyage 
For all true hearts be blazon'd on her tomb 
In letters gold and azure ! " which was wrought 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 129 

Thereafter ; but when now the lords and dames 1335 

And people, from the high door streaming, brake 

Disorderly, as homeward each, the Queen, 

Who mark'd Sir Lancelot where he moved apart. 

Drew near, and sigh'd in passing, " Lancelot, 

Forgive me ; mine was jealousy in love." 1340 

He answer'd with his eyes upon the ground, 

" That is love's curse ; pass on, my Queen, forgiven." 

But Arthur, who beheld his cloudy bix)ws. 

Approach' d him, and with full affection said, 

" Lancelot, my Lancelot, thou in whom I have 1345 
Most joy and most affiance, for I know 
What thou hast been in battle by my side. 
And many a time have watch'd thee at tlie tilt 
Strike down the lusty and long-practised knight, 
And let the younger and unskill'd go by 1350 

To win his honor and to make his name. 
And loved thy courtesies and thee, a man 
Made to be loved ; but now 1 would to God, 
Seeing the homeless trouble in thine eyes. 
Thou could st have loved this maiden, shaped, it seems. 
By God for thee alone, and from her face, 1356 

If one may judge the living by the dead. 
Delicately pure and marvellously fair. 
Who might have brought thee, now a lonely man. 
Wifeless and heirless, noble issue, sons 1360 

Born to the glory of thy name and fame. 
My knight, the great Sir Lancelot of the Lake." 

Then answer'd Lancelot, " Fair she was, my King, 
Pure, as you ever wish your knights to be. 
To doubt her fairness were to want an eye, 1365 

To doubt her pureness were to want a heart — . 



130 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Yea, to be loved, if what is worthy love 

Could bind him, but free love will not be bound." 

" Free love, so bound, were freest," said the King. 
" Let love be free ; free love is for the best : 1370 

And, after heaven, on our dull side of death, 
What should be best, if not so pure a love 
Clothed in so pure a loveliness ? yet thee 
SJie faird to bind, tho' being, as I think. 
Unbound as yet, and gentle, as I know." 1375 

And Lancelot answer'd nothing, but he went, 
And at the inrunning of a little brook 
Sat by the river in a cove, and watched 
The high reed wave, and lifted up his eyes 
And saw the barge that brought her moving down, 1380 
Far-off, a blot upon the stream, and said 
Low in himself, " Ah simple heart and sweet. 
Ye loved me, damsel, surely with a love 
Far tenderer than my Queen's. Pray for thy soul? 
Ay, that will I. Farewell too — now at last — 1385 
Farewell, fair lily. ' Jealousy in love ? ' 
Not rather dead love's harsh heir, jealous pride ? 
Queen, if I grant the jealousy as of love. 
May not your crescent fear for name and fame. 
Speak, as it waxes, of a love that wanes ? 1390 

Why did the King dwell on my name to me? 
Mine own name shames me, seeming a reproach, 
Lancelot, whom the Lady of the Lake 
Caught from his mother's arms — the wondrous one 
Who passes thro' the vision of the night — 1395 

She chanted snatches of mysterious hymns 
Heard on the winding waters, eve and morn. 
She kiss'd me saying, ' Thou art fair, my child, 



p 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 131 

As a king's son,' and often in her arms 

She bare me, pacing on the dusky mere. 1400 

Would she had drown 'd me in it, where'er it be ! 

For what am I ? what profits me my name 

Of greatest knight ? I fought for it, and have it : 

Pleasure to have it, none ; to lose it, pain ; 

Now grown a part of me : but what use in it ? 1405 

To make men worse by making my sin known ? 

Or sin seem less, the sinner seeming great? 

Alas for Arthur's greatest knight, a man 

Not after Arthur's heart ! I needs must break 

These bonds that so defame me : not without 1410 

She wills it : would I, if she will'd it ? nay. 

Who knows ? but if I would not, then may God, 

I pray him, send a sudden Angel down 

To seize me by the hair and bear me far, 

And fling me deep in that forgotten mere, 1415 

Among the tumbled fragments of the hills." 

So groaned Sir Lancelot in remorseful pain, 
Not knowing he should die a holy man. 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 

That story which the bold Sir Bedivere, 

First made and latest left of all the knights, 

Told, when the man was no more than a voice 

In the white winter of his age, to those 

With whom he dwelt, new faces, other minds. 5 

For on their march to westward, Bedivere, 
Who slowly paced among the slumbering host, 
Heard in his tent the moanings of the King : 

" I found Him in the shining of the stars, 
I mark'd Him in the flowering of His fields, 10 

But in His ways with men I find Him not. 
I waged His wars, and now I pass and die. 
O me ! for why is all around us here 
As if some lesser god had made the world, 
But had not force to shape it as he would, 15 

Till the High God behold it from beyond, 
And enter it, and make it beautiful ? 
Or else as if the world were wholly fair. 
But that these eyes of men are dense and dim, 
And have not power to see it as it is : 20 

Perchance, because we see not to the close ; — 
For I, being simple, thought to work His will, 
And have but stricken with the sword in vain ; 
And all whereon I lean'd in wife and friend 
Is traitor to my peace, and all my realm 25 

Reels back into the beast, and is no more. 
My God, thou hast forgotten me in my death : 
Nay — God my Christ — I pass but shall not die." 








Peter Vischer 



KING ARTHUR 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 133 

Then, ere that last weird battle in the west, 
There came on Arthur sleeping, Gawain kill'd 30 
In Lancelot's war, the ghost of Gawain blown 
Along a wandering wind, and past his ear 
Went shrilling, " Hollow, hollow all delight ! 
Hail, King ! to-morrow thou shalt pass away. 
Farewell! there is an isle of rest for thee. 35 

And I am blown along a wandering wind, 
And hollow, hollow, hollow all delight." 
And fainter onward, like wild birds that change 
Their season in the night and wail their way 
From cloud to cloud, down the long wind tlie dream 
ShrlU'd ; but in going mingled with dim cries 41 

Far in the moonlit haze among the hills. 
As of some lonely city sack'd by night. 
When all is lost, and wife and child with wail 
Pass to new lords ; and Arthur woke and call'd, 45 
" Who spake ? A dream. O light upon the wind, 
Thine, Gawain, was the voice — are these dim cries 
Thine? or doth all that haunts the waste and wild 
Mourn, knowing it will go along with me ? " 

This heard the bold Sir Bedivere and spake: 50 
" O me, my King, let pass whatever will, v "' 
Elves, and the harmless glamour of the field ; • 
But in their stead thy name and glory cling 
To all high places like a golden cloud 
For ever: but as yet thou shalt not pass. 55 

Light was Gawain in life, and light in death 
Is Gawain, for the ghost is as the man ; 
And care not thou for dreams from him, but rise — 
I hear the steps of Modred in the west. 
And with him many of thy people, and knights 00 
Once thine, whom thou hast loved, but grosser grown 



134 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Than heathen, spitting at their vows and thee. 
Right well in heart they know thee for the King. 
Arise, go forth and conquer as of old.*^ j|^^ 

Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere : 65 

" Far other is this battle in the west 
Whereto we move, than when we strove in youth, 
And brake the petty kings, and fought with Rome, 
Or thrust the heathen from the Roman wall. 
And shook him thro' the north. Ill doom is mine 70 
To war against my people and my knights. 
The king who fights his people fights himself. 
And they my knights, who loved me once, the stroke 
That strikes them dead is as my death to me. 
Yet let us hence, and find or feel a way 75 

Thro' this blind haze, which ever since I saw 
One lying in the dust at Almesbury, 
Hath folded in the passes of the world." 

Then rose the King and moved his host by night, 
And ever push'd Sir Modred, league by league, 80 
Back to the sunset bound of Lyonnesse — 
A land of old upheaven from the abyss 
By fire, to sink into the abyss again ; 
Where fragments of forgotten peoples dwelt, 
And the long mountains ended in a coast 85 

Of ever-shifting sand, and far away 
The phantom circle of a moaning sea. 
There the pursuer could pursue no more, 
And he that fled no further fly the King ; 
And there, that day when the great light of heaven 90 
Burn'd at his lowest in the rolling year. 
On the waste sand by the waste sea they closed. 
Nor ever yet had Arthur fought a fight 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 135 

Like this last, dim, weird battle of the west. 

A death white mist slept over sand and sea : 95 

Whereof the chill, to him who breathed it, drew 

Down with his blood, till all his heart was cold 

With formless fear; and ev'n on Arthur fell 

Confusion, since he saw not whom he fought. 

For friend and foe were shadows in the mist, 100 

And friend slew friend not knowing whom he slew ; 

And some had visions out of golden youth, 

And some beheld the faces of old ghosts 

Look in upon the battle ; and in the mist 

Was many a noble deed, many a base, 105 

And chance and craft and strength in single fights. 

And ever and anon with host to host 

Shocks, and the splintering spear, the hard mail hewn, 

Shield-breakings, and the clash of brands, the crash 

Of battle-axes on shatter'd helms, and shrieks 110, 

After the Christ, of those who falling down 

Look'd up for heaven, and only saw the mist ; 

And shouts of heathen and the traitor knights, 

Oaths, insult, filth, and monstrous blasphemies, 

Sweat, writhings, anguish, laboring of the lungs 115 

In that close mist, and cryings for the light, 

Moans of the dying, and voices of the dead. 

Last, as by some one deathbed after wail 
Of suffering, silence follows, or thro' death 
Or deathlike swoon, thus over all that shore, 120 

Save for some whisper of the seething seas, 
A dead hush fell ; but when the dolorous day 
Grew drearier toward twilight falling, came 
A bitter wind, clear from the North, and blew 
The mist aside, and with that wind the tide 125 

Rose, and the pale King glanced across the field 



136 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Of battle : but no man was moving there ; 

Nor any cry of Christian heard thereon, 

Nor yet of heathen ; only the wan wave 

Brake in among dead faces, to and fro 130 

Swaying the helpless hands, and up and down 

Tumbling the hollow helmets of the fallen. 

And shiver'd brands that once had fought with Eome, 

And rolling far along the gloomy shores 

The voice of days of old and days to be. 135 

Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere, 
And whiter than the mist that all day long 
Had held the field of battle was the King : 

" Hearest thou this great voice that shakes the world, 
And wastes the narrow realm whereon we move, 140 
And beats upon the faces of the dead, 
My dead, as tho' they had not died for me ? — 
O Bedivere, for on my heart hath fall'n 
Confusion, till I know not what I am, 
Nor whence I am, nor whether I be King. 145 

Behold, I seem but King among the dead." 

Then spake the bold Sir Bedivere : ^' My King, 
King everywhere ! and so the dead have kings. 
There also will I worship thee as King. 
Yet still thy life is whole, and still I live 150 

AVho love thee ; but who hates thee, he that brought 
The heathen back among us, yonder stands, 
Modred, unharm'd, the traitor of thine house." 

Then spake the King : " My house hath been my 
doom. 
But call not thou this traitor of my house 155 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 137 

Who hath but dwelt beneath one roof with me. 
My house are rather they who sware my vows, 
Yea, even while they brake them, own'd me King. 
And well for thee, saying in my dark hour. 
When all the purport of my throne hath fail'd, 160 
That quick or dead thou boldest me for King. 
King am I, whatsoever be their cry ; 
And one last act of kinghood shalt thou see 
Yet, ere I pass." And uttering this the King 
Made at the man : then Modred smote his liege 165 
Hard on that helm which many a heathen sword 
Had beaten thin ; while Arthur at one blow, ' 

Striking the last stroke with Excalibur, 
Slew him, and all but slain himself, he fell. 

So all day long the noise of battle roll'd 170 

Among the mountains by the winter sea ; 
Until King Arthur's Table, man by man, 
Had fall'n in Lyonnesse about their lord. 
King Arthur. Then, because his wound was deep. 
The bold Sir Bedivere uplifted him, 175 

And bore him to a chapel nigh the field, 
A broken chancel with a broken cross. 
That stood on a dark strait of barren land : 
On one side lay the Ocean, and on one 
Lay a great water, and the moon was full. 180 

Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere : 
" The sequel of to-day unsolders all 
The goodliest fellowship of famous knights 
Whereof this world holds record. Such a sleep 
They sleep — the men I loved. I think that we 185 
Shall never more, at any future time. 
Delight our souls with talk of knightly deeds. 



138 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Walking about the gardens and the halls 

Of Camelot, as in the days that were. 

I perish by this people which I made, — 190 

Tho' Merlin sware that I should come again 

To rule once more ; but, let what will be, be, 

I am so deeply smitten thro' the helm 

That without help I cannot last till morn. 

Thou therefore take my brand Excalibur, 195 

Which was my pride : for thou rememberest how 

In those old days, one summer noon, an arm 

Rose up from out the bosom of the lake, 

Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful, 

Holdins: the sword — and how I row'd across 200 

And took it, and have worn it, like a king ; 

And, wheresoever I am sung or told 

In aftertime, this also shall be known : , 

But now delay not : take Excalibur, C;^a 

And fling him far into the middle mere : 205 

Watch what thou seest, and lightly bring me word." 

To him replied the bold Sir Bedivere : 
" It is not meet. Sir King, to leave thee thus, '•'* 

Aidless, alone, and smitten thro' the helm — 
A little thing may harm a wounded man ; 210 

Yet I thy best will all perform at full, 
Watch what I see, and lightly bring thee word." 

So saying, from the ruin'd shrine he stept, 
And in the moon athwart the place of tombs. 
Where lay the mighty bones of ancient men, 215 

Old knights, and over them the sea-wind sang 
Shrill, chill, with flakes of foam. He, stepping down 
By zigzag paths, and juts of pointed rock. 
Came on the shining levels of the lake. 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 139 

There drew he forth the brand Excalibur, 220 

And o'er him, drawing it, the winter moon, 
Brightening the skirts of a long cloud, ran forth 
And sparkled keen with frost against the hilt : 
For all the haft twinkled with diamond sparks, 
Myriads of topaz-lights, and jacinth-work 225 

Of subtlest jewelry. He gazed so long 
That both his eyes were dazzled as he stood, 
This way and that dividing the swift mind, 
In act to throw : but at the last it seem'd 
Better to leave Excalibur conceal'd 230 

There in the many-knotted waterflags, 
That whistled stiff and dry about the marge. 
So strode he back slow to the wounded King. 

Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere : 
" Hast thou perform'd my mission which I gave ? 235 



And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere: 
" I heard the ripple washing in the reeds. 
And the wild water lapping on the crag." 

To whom replied King Arthur, faint and pale : 240 
" Thou hast betray'd thy nature and thy name, 
Not rendering true answer, as beseem'd 
Thy fealty, nor like a noble knight : 
For surer sign had follow'd, either hand, 
Or voice, or else a motion of the mere. 245 

This is a shameful thing for men to lie. 
Yet now, I charge thee, quickly go again, 7 
As thou art lief and dear, and do the thing 
I bade thee, watch, and lightly bring me word.'* 



140 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Then went Sir Bedivere the second time 250 

Across the ridge, and paced beside the mere, 
Counting the dewy pebbles, fix'd in thought ; 
But when he saw the wonder of the hilt, 
How curiously and strangely chased, he smote 
His palms together, and he cried aloud : 255 

*' And if indeed I cast the brand away, 
Surely a precious thing, one worthy note. 
Should thus be lost for ever from the earth, 
Which might have pleased the eyes of many men. 
What good should follow this, if this were done? 260 
What harm, undone ? Deep harm to disobey, 
Seeing obedience is the bond of rule. 
Were it well to obey then, if a king demand 
An act unprofitable, against himself? 
The King is sick, and knows not what he does. 265 
What record, or what relic of my lord 
Should be to aftertime, but empty breath 
And rumors of a doubt ? But were this kept, 
Stored in some treasure-house of mighty kings. 
Some one might show it at a joust of arms, 270 

Saying, ' King Arthur's sword, Excalibur, 
Wrought by the lonely maiden of the Lake. 
Nine years she wrought it, sitting in the deeps 
Upon the hidden bases of the hills.' 
So might some old man speak in the aftertime 275 
To all the people, winning reverence. 
But now much honor and much fame were lost." 

♦ So spake he, clouded with his own conceit, 
\. |And hid Excalibur the second time. 

And so strode back slow to the wounded Kin^f. 280 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 141 

Then spoke King Arthur, breathing heavily : 
" What is it thou hast seen ? or what hast heard ? " 



And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere: 
p\ heard the water lapping on the crag, 
And the long ripple washing in the reeds." 285 

To whom replied King Arthur, much in wrath : 
" Ah, miserable and unkind, untrue, 
Unknightly, traitor-hearted ! Woe is me ! 
Authority forgets a dying king, 1 ^.^ ^^j 

Laid widovv'd of the power in his eye 290 

That bowed the will. I see thee what thou art, 
For thou, the latest-left of all my knights, 
In whom should meet the offices of all. 
Thou wouldst betray me for the precious hilt ; 
Either from lust of gold, or like a girl 295 

Valuing the giddy pleasure of the eyes. 
Yet, for a man may fail in duty twice. 
And the third time may prosper, get thee hence : 
But, if thou spare to fling Excalibur, 
I will arise and slay thee with my hands." j xj 300 

Then quickly rose Sir Bedivere, and ran, 
And, leaping down the ridges lightly, plunged 
Among the bulrush beds, and clutch'd the sword. 
And strongly wheel'd and threw it. The great brand 
Made lightnings in the splendor of the moon, 305 
And flashing round and round, and whirl'd in an arch, 
Shot like a streamer of the northern morn. 
Seen where the moving isles of winter shock 
By night, with noises of the Northern Sea. 
So flash'd and fell the brand Excalibur: 310 

But ere he dipt the surface, rose an arm 



142 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful. 
And caught him by the hilt, and brandish'd him 
Three times, and drew him under in the mere. 
And lightly went the other to the King. 315 

Then spoke King Arthur, drawing thicker breath : 
" Now see I by thine eyes that this is done. 
Speak out: what is it thou hast heard, or seen?'* 

And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere : 
" Sir King, I closed mine eyelids, lest the gems 320 
Should blind my purpose, for I never saw, 
Nor shall see, here or elsewhere, till I die, 
Not tho' I live three lives of mortal men, 
So great a miracle as yonder hilt. 
Then with both hands I flung him, wheeling him ; 325 
But when I look'd again, behold an arm. 
Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful, 
That caught him by the hilt, and brandish'd him 
Three times, and drew him under in the mere." 

And answer made King Arthur, breathing hard : 
" My end draws nigh ; 't is time that I were gone, 331 
Make broad thy shoulders to receive my weight, 
And bear me to the margin ; yet I fear 
My wound hath taken cold, and I shall die." 

So saying, from the pavement he half rose, 335 

Slowly, with pain, reclining on his arm. 
And looking wistfully with wide blue eyes 
As in a picture. Him Sir Bedivere 
Remorsefully regarded thro' his tears. 
And would have spoken, but he found not words ; 340 
Then took with care, and kneeling on one knee, 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 143 

O'er both his shoulders drew the languid hands, 
And rising bore him thro' the place of tombs. 

But, as he walk'd, King Arthur panted hard, 
Like one that feels a nightmare on his bed 345 

When all the house is mute. So sigli'd the King, 
Muttering and murmuring at his ear, " Quick, quick I 
[ fear it is too late, and I shall die." 
But the other swiftly strode from ridge to ridge. 
Clothed with his breath, and looking, as he walk'd, 
Larger than human on the frozen hills. 351 

He heard the deep behind him, and a cry 
Before. His own thought drove him like a goad. 
Dry clash'd his harness in the icy caves 
And barren chasms, and all to left and right 355 

The bare black cliff clang'd round him, as he 

based 
His feet on juts of slippery crag that rang 
Sharp-smitten with the dint of armed heels — 
And on a sudden, lo ! the level lake. 
And the long glories of the winter moon. 360 

Then saw they how there hove a dusky barge, 
Dark as a funeral scarf from stem to stern. 
Beneath them ; and descending they were ware 
That all the decks were dense with stately forms, 
Black-stoled, black-hooded, like a dream — by these 
Three Queens with crowns of gold: and from them 
rose 366 

A cry that shiver'd to the tingling stars, 
And, as it were one voice, an agony 
Of lamentation, like a wind that shrills 
All night in a waste land, where no one comes, 370 
Or hath come, since the making of the world. 



144 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Then mnrraur'd Arthur, " Place me in the barge." 
So to the barge the}^ came. There those three Queens 
Put forth their hands, and took the King, and wept. 
But she, that rose the tallest of them all , , 375 

And fairest, laid his head upon her lap, \ 
And loosed the shatter'd casque, and chafed his hands, 
And call'd him by his name, complaining loud, 
And dropping bitter tears against a brow 
Striped with dark blood: for all his face was white 
And colorless, and like the wither'd moon 381 

Smote by the fresh beam of the springing east ; 
And all his greaves and cuisses dash'd with drops 
Of onset; and the light and lustrous curls — 
That made his forehead like a rising sun 385 

High from the dais-throne — were parch'd with dust, 
Or, clotted into points and hanging loose, 
Mix'd with the knightly growth that fringed his 

lips. 
So like a shatter'd column lay the King ; 
Not like that Arthur who, with lance in rest, 390 

From spur to plume a star of tournament. 
Shot thro' the lists at Camelot, and charged 
Before the eyes of ladies and of kings. 

^Then loudly cried the bold Sir Bedivere : 
'^^ Ah ! my Lord Arthur, whither shall I go ? 395 

Where shall I hide my forehead and my eyes? 
For now I see the true old times are dead. 
When every morning brought a noble chance, 
And every chance brought out a noble knight. 
Such times have been not since the light that led 400 
The holy Elders with the gift of myrrh. 
But now the whole Round Table is dissolved 
Which was an image of the mighty world, 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 145 

And I, the last, go forth compaiiioiiless, 

And the days darken round me, and the j-ears, 405 

Among new men, strange faces, other minds." 

And slowly answer'd Arthur from the barge : 
" The old order changeth, yielding place to new, 
And God fulfils himself in many ways, 
^ Lest one good custom should corrupt the world. 410 
"Comfort thyself : what comfort is in me? 
I have lived my life, and that which I have done 
May He within himself make pure I but thou. 
If thou shouldst never see my face again, 414 

!^ Pray for my soul.(More things are wrought by prayer 
Than this world dreams of./ Wherefore, let thy voice 
Rise like a fountain for me night and day. 
For what are men better than sheep or goats 
That nourish a blind life within the brain, 
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer 420 
Both for themselves and those who call them friend ? 
For so the whole round earth is every way 
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God. 
But now farewell. I am going a long way 
With these thou seest — if indeed I go 425 

(For all my mind is clouded with a doubt) — 
To the island-valley of Avilion ; 
W^liere falls not hail, or rain, or any snow, 
Nor ever wind blows loudly ; but it lies 
Deep-meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard lawns 430 
And bowery hollows crown'd with summer sea, 
Where I will heal me of my grievous wound." 

So said he, and the barge with oar and sail 
Moved from the brink, like some full-breasted swan 
That, fluting a wild carol ere her death, 435 



146 SELECTED IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Euffles her pure cold plume, and takes the flood 
With swarthy webs. Long stood Sir Bedivere 
Revolving many memories, till the hull 
Look'd one black dot against the verge of dawn, 
And on the mere the wailing died away. 440 

But when that moan had past for evermore, 
The stillness of the dead world's winter dawn 
Amazed him, and he groan'd, " The King is gone." 
And therewithal came on him the weird rhyme, 
'' From the great deep to the great deep he goes." 445 

Whereas he slowly turn'd and slowly clomb 
The last hard footstep of that iron crag ; 
Thence mark'd the black hull moving yet, and cried, 
" He passes to be King among the dead. 
And after healing of his grievous wound 450 

He comes again ; but — if he come no more — 
O me, be yon dark Queens in yon black boat, 
Who shriek'd and wail'd, the three whereat we gazed 
On that high day, when, clothed with living light, 
They stood before his throne in silence, friends 455 
Of Arthur, who should help him at his need ? " 

Then from the dawn it seem'd there came, but faint 
As from beyond the limit of the world. 
Like the last echo born of a great cry. 
Sounds, as if some fair city were one voice 460 

Around a king returning from his wars. 

Thereat once more he moved about, and clomb 
Ev'n to the highest he could climb, and saw. 
Straining his eyes beneath an arch of hand. 
Or thought he saw, the speck that bare the King, 465 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 147 

Down that long water opening on the deep 
Somewhere far off, pass on and on, and go 
From less to less and vanish into light. 
And the new sun rose bringing the new year. 




KING ARTHUR'S ROUND TABLE 
Now in Winchester Castle. A work of art of doubtful date, 1235-1425. 



TO THE QUEEN 

O LOYAL to the royal in thyself, 

And loyal to thy laud, as this to thee 

Bear witness, that rememberable day. 

When, pale as yet, and fever-worn, the Prince 

Who scarce had pluck'd his flickering life again 5 

From halfway down the shadow of the grave, 

Past with thee thro' thy people and their love, 

And London roll'd one tide of joy thro' all 

Her trebled millions, and loud leagues of man 

And welcome ! witness, too, the silent cry, 10 

The prayer of many a race and creed, and clime — 

Thunderless lightnings striking under sea 

From sunset and sunrise of all thy realm. 

And that true North, whereof we lately heard 

A strain to shame us " keep you to yourselves ; 15 

So loyal is too costly ! friends — your love 

Is but a burthen : loose the bond, and go." 

Is this the tone of empire? here the faith 

That made us rulers ? this, indeed, her voice 

And meaning, whom the roar of Hougoumont 20 

Left mightiest of all peoples under heaven ? 

What shock has fool'd her since, that she sliould speak 

So feebly ? wealthier — wealtliier — hour by hour I 

The voice of Britain, or a sinking land, 

Some third-rate isle half-lost among her seas? 25 

There rang her voice, wlien the full city pcal'd 

Thee and thy Prince ! The loyal to their crown 

Are loyal to their own far sous, who love 

Our ocean-empire with her boundless homes 

For ever-broadening England, and her throne 30 



TO THE QUEEN 149 

In our vast Orient, and one isle, one isle, 

That knows not her own greatness : if she knows 

And dreads it we are fall'n. But thou, my Queen, 

Not for itself, but thro' thy living love 

For one to whom I made it o'er his grave 35 

Sacred, accept this old imperfect tale. 

New-old, and shadowing Sense at war with Soul 

Rather than that gray king, whose name, a ghost, 

Streams like a cloud, man-shaped, from mountain peak. 

And cleaves to cairn and cromlech still ; or him 40 

Of Geoffrey's book, or him of Malleor's, one 

Touch'd by the adulterous finger of a time 

That hover'd between war and wantonness. 

And crownings and dethronements : take withal 

Thy poet's blessing, and his trust that Heaven 45 

Will blow the tempest in the distance back 

From thine and ours : for some are scared, who mark, 

Or wisely or unwisely, signs of storm. 

Waverings of every vane with every wind. 

And wordy trucklings to the transient hour, 50 

And fierce or careless looseners of the faith. 

And Softness breeding scorn of simple life, 

Or Cowardice, the child of lust for gold, 

Or Labor, with a groan and not a voice. 

Or Art with poisonous honey stol'n from France, 55 

And that which knows, but careful for itself. 

And that which knows not, ruling that which knows 

To its own harm : the goal of this great world 

Lies beyond sight : yet — if our slowly-grown 

And crown'd Republic's crowning common-sense, 60 

That saved her many times, not fail — their fears 

Are morning shadows huger than the shapes 

That east them, not those gloomier which forego 

The darkness of that battle in the West, 

Where all of high and holy dies away. 65 



NOTES 

In Twelve Books. Twelve books is the number in the 
two great epics best known to modern readers: Virgil's 
Mneid and Milton's Paradise Lost. Twelve was also 
the number of books planned by Spenser for his 
Faerie Queene, though he completed only six of them, 
and a little of the seventh. 
Flos Regum Arthurus. Arthur, the flower of kings. 

DEDICATION 

LINE 

1 His Memory. To the memory of Prince Albert, the 
husband of Que^n Victoria. He died in December, 
1861. The volume of the Idylls containing The Coming 
of Arthury The Holy Grail, Pelleas and Ettare, and The 
Passing of Arthur was published in 18G9. 

12 Imminent war. An allusion, probably, to the danger 
of war, late in 1861, between England and the United 
States, caused by " the Trent affair." See any history 
of the United States; for example, Fiske's. 

35 The rich dawn of an ampler day. In reference to the 
many new discoveries in science, and new ideas of the 
nineteenth century. Compare Locksley Hall. 

36-7 Summoner of War and Waste, etc. Prince Albert 
had arranged the great International Exposition at 
London in 1851, and was at work on the second, that 
of 1862, at the time of his death. 

47 Has past. The subject of this verb is " that star," in 
line 45. 

THE COMING OF ARTHUR 

1 Cameliard, an unidentified region, seemingly in south- 
east England. 
5 Petty king. Britain was divided into many tribes or 



NOTES 151 

LINE 

clans, the " king " of each being no more than a sort of 
chief. 
8 Heathen host. The Angles and the Saxons, who made 
invasions and settlements in Britain in the fifth and 
sixth centuries. 

13 Aurelius, '* a descendant of the last Roman general 
who claimed the purple as an emperor of Britain." 
— Green, The Making of England. 

32 Wolf-like men. Stories of children nourished by 
wolves, and growing up into ** wolf-like men " were 
common and widespread. Compare the story of 
Romulus and Remus. See an unabridged dictionary 
for the term were-ivolves. 

34 Roman legions. The part of Britain that is now Eng- 
land had been invaded and conquered by Caesar in 
the first century, B.C. The Romans maintained their 
power there, and exacted tribute of the Britons for 
four or five centuries. 

36 Urien, according to Malory, was a king of North 
Wales *' who made great war upon Leodogrance, king 
of Cameliard." 

43 Uther's son. According to Malory, Uther Pendragon, 
a king in southern Britain, fell in love with Igraine, or 
Ygerne, wife of Gorlois, Duke of Tintagil in Corn- 
wall; made war upon Gorlois, slew him, and married 
Igraine in the castle of Tintagil, where she had taken 
refuge. Of this union Arthur was born. In accordance 
with the old Celtic custom of fosterage, and to save 
the child's life, he was given over to Merlin imme- 
diately after his birth, and given by Merlin to the 
wife of Sir Ector to be reared. See Tennyson's version 
of the story in lines 184-236. 

50 Kinglihood, kingship. 

73 Anton, in one of the old stories (not Malory's) is the 
knight in whose family Arthur is brought up. 



152 NOTES 

LINE 

96 Pavilions. Tents. To ** pitch " a tent is to set it up. 

102 Shrilling unto blood. Stirring the blood. 

103 The long-lanced battle, . . . run. That is, the lines of 
battle rode against each other. 

105 The King. King Arthur. 

106 The Powers. The supernatural powers. 

111-5 This list of kings is borrowed from Malory, I, 10. 
116-8 One who sees, etc. That is, one who has his sin 

discovered and proclaimed. 
119 To stay the brands, etc. To stop fighting. 
124-5 Warrior whom he loved and honored most. Sir 

Launcelot. See lines 446-7. 
127 Liege is an old word, common in poetry, meaning one 

to whom are due service and allegiance, or faithful 

loyalty. 
132 Man's word is God in man. That is, man's word, or 

promise, is a sacred thing. 
134 Foughten. This old form of the participle still survives 

in the word houghten, especially in New England. 
141 Holp, an old form of the verb, like telly told; sell, sold. 
150 Merlin, the wise man, the magician, appears many 

times in the Idylls and in the various versions of the 

Arthurian legends. He had not only great knowledge, 

but the gifts of prophecy and magic. 
160 Holpen. See notes on lines 134 and 141. 
100-2 Note the king's way of telling the old man his 

knowledge is useless. 
167 And reason in the chase. The cuckoo lays its eggs 

in the nests of other birds, to be hatched, after throw- 
ing out the eggs of the owners of the nest. 
177 Be. This is an old use of the verb, still found in many 

parts of England and New England. 
183 So. An old use of the word, equivalent to if, 
187 Note the alliteration in this line. 
191-2 The pronouns refer to Ygerne, not to Bellicent. 



NOTES 15S 

LUTE 

194 Bright dishonor. A distinction, yet dishonorable. 

203-4 This is one of the many instances in which Tenny- 
son assigns the taste and morals of his own century to 
the period of King Arthur. In Malory the knights and 
ladies are much less sensitive to such improprieties. 

214-20 Tennyson here supplies a reason for the secret 
bringing up of Arthur. See note on line 43. See also 
the story of Arthur's birth in Tennyson's Guinevere, 
lines 282-93. 

227 His hour. Whose hour.?^ Merlin's, or Arthur's.^ 

230-3 According to Malory, the true king was to be he 
who could draw a certain sword from a stone in which 
it was deeply thrust. All the kings and nobles tried, but 
only Arthur could withdraw it. The people clamored 
for him to be their king, and he was crowned by the 
Archbishop of Canterbury. Compare the story of 
Siegfreid and the sword. 

252 Body enow. Weight enough, power enough. 

256 Uther*s peerage. The knights and kings under Uther. 

257 Dais. A low platform on which the king's chair stood. 

261 Strait. Narrow, strict. 

262 Knighted from kneeling. In the old ceremony the 
candidate for knighthood knelt before the king, who 
struck him gently on the shoulder with the flat side of 
the sword and said, "Arise, Sir John," or whatever 
name the knight bore. This stroke of the sword admit- 
ting to knighthood, was called an accolade. 

266 Table Round. The "round table," from which the 
order of King Arthur and his knights was named, was 
a custom of the early Britons or Celts. The place 
nearest the salt was the place of favor, or of honor. If 
the guests sat at equal distance from the salt, at the 
center, there could be no quarrels on this point. 

271-4 " The cross," etc. . . . This passage seems to 
describe pictures and Christian symbols in stained 



154 NOTES 

LINE 

glass. But stained glass was first made long after the 
date ascribed to King Arthur. Tennyson cares more 
for beauty of picture than for historical accuracy. 

275 Three fair queens. Perhaps the same three queens 
who appear at Arthur's death, and bear him in the 
barge across the lake. See The Passing of Arthur, lines 
361, and following. Do they symbolize anything .f* 
Perhaps the Christian virtues. Faith, Hope, and 
Charity. See Tennyson's own comment in the Intro- 
duction, page 12. 

282 The Lady of the Lake. Commonly understood to 
symbolize the Church, as Tennyson uses her. In the 
original story (see Malory, i, xxii) she is a mystical 
lady who gives Arthur the magic sword, Excalibur. 

288 Minster. A cathedral which had its origin in a monas- 
tery, of which word minster is a corruption. 

293 To walk the waters like our Lord. So Malory de- 
scribes her: "They saw a damsel going upon the lake.'* 
The comparison is to the miracle told in Matt, xiv, 
and Mark vt. 

298 Urim. Flames or lights. (A Hebrew plural, indicated 
by the termination im. Compare the words seraphim 
and cherubim.) The Urim were worn in the breastplate 
of the high priest of the Jews. They are thought to 
have been small figures or jewels, of some mystic or sa- 
cred significance. But what they were is not certainly 
known. At any rate, they fit in well enough with the 
rest of the mystery of this poem. The word occurs in 
Ex. XXVIII, Lev. viii, and Num. xxvii. 

301 The oldest tongue of all this world. What this is 
no one knows. But note the effect of mystery and 
wonder which the line suggests. Tennyson, of course, 
means that the words were in Hebrew. 

310 To sift his doub tings. How would this be expressed 
in everyday English.'^ 



NOTES 155 

LINE 

318 To pass. To withdraw. 

322 Modreds stealthy and treacherous nature appears 
elsewhere in the Idylls: Guinevere, 10-110; The Pass- 
ing of Arthur, 10-50, 150-70. 

332 The dawning of my life. My infancy. 

342 Heath. The heath or heather is a small, shrubby plant 
growing in great abundance on the moors and other 
waste land of Great Britain. It has a small bell- 
shaped flower, commonly purple, but sometimes pink 
or white. 

362 Shrunk like a fairy changeling. There was an old 
belief that fairies sometimes carried off infants and 
left little elves in their stead. These were called 
changelings and were sometimes known by their old 
and shriveled appearance. 

371 What kind of night does this mean.?^ 

372-93 This story of the coming of the babe Arthur is an 
excellent example of the wild yet childlike imagination 
of the people of the Middle Ages. 

380 Full of voices. There is a likeness between the sound 
of waves and the murmur of many voices. 

402-10 What is the general meaning of Merlin's "rid- 
dling triplets"? 

407 Truth or clothed or naked. 'Truth told in parables or by 
symbols or embellished ; — truth told barely or simply. 

410 From the great deep to the great deep. From the 
unknown past into eternity. 

421 Again to come. In Malory, xxt, 7, it is said that many 
thought that Arthur was not dead, and that he would 
come again. 

426-43 Read the king's dream carefully. What does it 
mean? What other significant dreams have you read 
in old stories.'* 

431 The hind fell, the herd was driven: The peasants were 
killed, and their cattle driven away as plunder. 



156 NOTES 

LINE 

450 This, the first of the Idylls, and Garetk and Lynette, the 
second in the series, are laid in the spring of the year. 
The last two, Guinevere and The Passing of Arthur are in 
the winter, the end of the year. See Introduction, p. 15. 

452 To whom arrived. To whom, when she arrived, the 
king was married by Dubric, etc. 

460 White with May. A kind of hawthorn, with a profuse 
white bloom, called the may. 

476 Great lords from Rome, come to demand their annual 
tribute of the Britons. See the answer that they get 
from Arthur, lines 506-13. 

481-501 In this lyric notice how often Tennyson has used 
repetition with slight variations. Note also the mar- 
tial clang and ring that the song has; the harsh, and 
rugged music of it. 

504 Rome, the slow-fading mistress of the world. By the 
sixth or seventh century Rome, weakened by the inva- 
sions of the barbarians from the North* was rapidly 
losing her great power. 

508 The old order changeth, etc. This line occurs again 
near the end of The Passing of Arthur, line 408. It is 
an idea that Tennyson has expressed in many places. 

513 Strove with Rome. Was at enmity, but not at war, 
with Rome. 

514-5 For a space, etc. This is a forecast of the trouble 
and disunion that later interfere with Arthur's work, 
and finally destroy both Round Table and kingdom. 

516-8 Arthur's achievement was to unify the land into 
one kingdom by making the petty kings his vassals; 
to drive back the heathen (the Teutonic invaders); 
to purge the land of robbers and wild beasts; and to 
uphold order, law, and religion. 



NOTES 157 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 

Gareth and Lynette, though it follows The Coming of 
Arthur in the series of the Idylls, was not written until 
the end, in 1872. 

LINE 

18 Heaven yield her. Heaven reward her. 

46 Book of Hours. A book of devotions, with prayers for 

the hours of the day. 
66 Excalibur. Arthur's sword. The swords of heroes were 

often given individual names. 
89 Frights. Explain the construction here. 
94 Prone year. Declining life. 

105 Good lack. Alas. 

115-118 Commit to memory these well-known lines. 

128 Recall the doubts concerning Arthur's birth as told in 
The Coming of Arthur. 

133-4 Where is this described.'^ 

147 Point out the play on words here. 

174 Note the imaginative quality in this line. 

184-93 The city is made to seem mysterious here and later. 

202 Glamour. Enchantment. Look up the origin of this 
word in the dictionary. 

212 The Lady of the Lake. A mythical personage, a guard- 
ian to Arthur. 

219 The sacred fish. An emblem of the Church, said to be 
derived from the accidental fact that the initials of the 
Greek words for Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, 
happened to form the Greek word meaning fish. Ask 
your teacher to write out the Greek for you. 

229 Dragon-boughts. A bought is a loop or curve. 

254-74 Study this passage carefully. The city " built to 
music " is an old Greek idea. Troy was fabled to have 
taken form under iVpollo's music, and the wall around 
Thebes rose to Amphion's lyre. 



158 NOTES 

LINE 

For the idea in the last lines, remember that Camelot 
was a city of ideals, that ideals are never perfectly 
realized, that they are ever growing, and that they 
endure forever. 

298 Did their days in stone. Had the record of their deeds 
carved in stone. 

355 Wreak. Avenge. 

366 Had doomed. Subjunctive form; compare the verb in 
the next line. 

380 Charlock. Wild mustard. What color is it? 

405 BlazonM. Drawn in colors. 

422 In cloth of lead. Lead was used for coflfins. 

465 Sir Fair-hands. In Malory, Kay gives Gareth the 
nickname of Beau-Mains. 

476 Broach. A spit, a sharp iron rod on which the meat 
was held while roasting. 

529 News. Note the old plural form. Compare the 
French word for news, nouvelles. 

607 A holy life. The life of a nun or monk. 

657 Counter to. Opposite. 

665 A maiden shield. A shield undecorated with exploits. 

693 Hath past his time. Is falling into dotage. 

729 Agaric. Mushroom. Holt. Grove or orchard. 

784-5 Note the antithetic use of words here and in 787-8. 

873 Ruth. Pity. From what verb is the noun derived? 

881-2 To what is the allusion? 

972 Unhappiness. Mishap, accident. 

1002-3 What flower is meant? 

1012 Vizoring up. Putting up the vizor of his helmet. 

1023-5 Note the peculiar involved construction here, equiv- 
alent to, He fought no more and yielded. 

1101-4 Here we have a hint of the allegory further de- 
scribed in lines 1167-79. 

1130 Look back over the lyrics that Lynette has sung, and 
see how they indicate her change of view toward Gareth. 



NOTES 159 

LINE 

1281 Arthur's Harp. In The Last Tournament there is a 
passage, "the star we call the harp of Arthur up in 
Heaven." 

1318 Instant. Urgent, impressive. 

1373 Going back to the allegory in 1167-79, what do 
you make of Tennyson's meaning here? If a man has 
won the battles for good in the morning, the noon, and 
the evening of his life, what will death be to him.? A 
thing to be feared, or the entrance to a new and beauti- 
ful life.? Compare lines 1388-90. 

1392-4 Which ending would have pleased you best? 

As for the place of this Idyll in the series, note the 
conflict between the better and the worse ideals, first 
between Gareth and his mother, then between Gareth 
and Lynette. Which prevails? What evidences are 
there at the Court that the good influences are in 
control? 

What passages of striking beauty can you find? Do 
you think of Lynette as a medieval or a modern girl? 
Does Gareth seem near or remote? 

LANCELOT AND ELAINE 

This Idyll shows openly the growing evil in the 
Court of Arthur. The indirect cause of Elaine's d«ath 
is Lancelot's guilty love of Guinevere. It is not alle- 
gorical, like Gareth and Lynette; but a romantic story 
of a passion which, though pure and innocent, tran- 
scends ordinary bounds. It is therefore not to be read 
for an ethical lesson, but for its beauty and its pathos. 

Read first The Lady of Shalott, Tennyson's early ver- 
sion of the story, wherein he pictures the heroine as a 
type of the artistic imagination weaving into the web 
the figures of the world as she sees them in the mirror 
(her imagination). 



160 NOTES 

LINE 

2 Astolat. Used in Malory. Compare Shalott. 
44 LichenM. Covered with dry moss. 
53 Shingly scaur. Rock covered with gravel (or shingle). 
59 Divinely. By divine direction. Providentially. 
76 This world's hugest. London. 
91 The tale. The number. 
94 Lets. Hinders, keeps. 

118 Devoir. Duty; a French word. 

162 Downs. Rolling hills of thin soil and sparse vegetation. 

218 An if. An alone is also used for if. 

272 Reft. Deprived. 

293 Our Lady's Head. An image of the Virgin Mary. 

297 The White Horse was a symbol of the Saxons. On a 
hillside in Berkshire there may still be seen the image 
of a huge white horse made by uncovering the chalky 
rock of the hill. It is said to have been made by King 
Alfred in memory of a victory over the Danes. 

301 Heathen. The Saxons and Danes became Christians 
later than the British. 

325 To make him cheer. To show him kindness. 

331-4 Explain these lines. 

338 Rathe. Early. Rather is the comparative degree. 

431 Samite. A kind of heavy silk. 

446 Crescent. Growing, increasing in power. 

453 Held the lists. Awaited the attack. The lists was the 
enclosure within which the combat was fought. 

502 Diamond me, etc. Note here and in line 505 the noun 
as verb. What do these lines mesm? 

545 Bring us, etc. Bring us news of where he is. 

652-3 To "slip" the falcon was to release it from the hold- 
ing-strings, that it might bring down the game in its 
flight. 

713 A famous line, often quoted. 

728 Marr'd her friend's* aim, etc. Did not betray her 
emotion, as her friend had expected. 



NOTES 161 

LINE 

766 Wit ye well. Know you well. 

870-2 Another well-known passage. Explain it. 

905 The victim's flowers. An animal sacrificed at the altar 
was thus bedecked. 

923 Is yours. Is your doing, is due to your kindness. 

939 Quit. Requite, repay. 

999 Make. Compose poetry. Our word poet is from a 
Greek word meaning maker. 

1000-11 Note the rhyme arrangement. 

1015-6. A common belief. In Ireland such a spirit is called 
a Banshee. 

1092 The ghostly man. The priest. 

1233-1410 Compare with this account the brief and sim- 
ple ending of The Lady of Shalott. 

1418 Die a holy man. The end of Lancelot's life was spent 
in prayer and penance in a monastery. 

THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 

The Passing of Arthur was first published, in its pres- 
ent form, in the volume with The Coming of Arthur, 
in 1869. It is an enlargement, with some changes, of 
the Morte d' Arthur, published in 1842 in the volume 
English Idylls. The main part of the story of this 
Idyll is taken from Malory, xxi, v. This last divi- 
sion of Malory's account \s called La Morte d' Arthur y 
or The Death of Arthur. 
1-5 That story: meaning. This is that story, etc. 
3 The man was no more than a voice. Meaning.^ 
6 On their march, etc. This Idyll opens at a time when 
the Round Table is dissolved, and war has broken 
out. A part of the knights are still faithful to the 
king, and the rest, led by Modred and Lancelot, are 
at war with King Arthur. 
22 Simple. Trustful, believing. 



162 NOTES 

LINE 

26 Reels back into the beast. Becomes fierce and de- 
graded again. Why reels? 

83 Shrilling. Tennyson seems to like the weird eflFect of 
this word. See how many times you find it, either as 
verb or adjective, in this poem. Hollow all deUght! 
All joy is empty and fleeting. 

88-40 Wild birds that change their season, etc. Some of 
the migratory birds that go north in spring and south 
in autumn fly high, and travel day and night. Read 
Bryant's poem. To a Waterfowl, 

42 Moonlit haze among the hills. Do you get the picture? 

44-5 Wife and Child, etc. In olden times the women and 
children of the conquered were often carried off into 
slavery by the victors. 

52 Harmless glamour of the field. The imaginary beings 
in nature. 

68-70 These are the events told of in The Coming of 
Arthur. 

77 In reference to Queen Guinevere, who had taken 
refuge in the convent at Almesbury, and to whom 
Arthur had there said good-bye. See the Idyll, 
Guinevere y lines 410 jf. 

78 Folded in the passes of the world. Closed the way 
as by a mist or darkness. 

81 Lyonnesse. A district supposed to lie between Corn- 
wall and the Scilly Islands, and now submerged. 

82-7 A land made by volcanic action. Note the boldness 
of imagination in this picture. 

87 The phantom circle. The dim line of the horizon, be- 
tween sea and sky. 

90-1 The shortest day of the year. As the events of the 
early days of Arthur's reign have spring as their set- 
ting, so his death has the end of the year and a winter 
landscape for its appropriate background. 



NOTES 163 

LINE 

94 Dim, weird battle. What things in this whole para- 
graph, lines 79-118, make the scene dim and weird? 

108-10 Read these lines aloud, and note how they suggest 
the shock and crash of fighting. 

113-7 Does Tennyson here make war seem glorious? Or 
is it made to seem bestial.'^ 

119 Or thro* death, or, etc. Either through death or, etc. 

121 Seething. Surging and chafing, as if boiling. 

127 No man was moving there. Is this forceful? Why.? 

129 ff. Remember that Arthur's army had overtaken the 
enemy on the coast, and fought them there; and then 
"with the wind the tide rose," and so flowed in among 
the dead. 

133 Once had fought with Rome. A reminder of the days 
in which they fought together against a foreign enemy. 

134-5 What do these lines suggest? The ceaseless move- 
ment and roar of the sea? 

139 This great voice, etc. The roaring waves that beat 
upon the land and wear it down. 

151-2 But (he) who hates thee, and who 
Brought the heathen back among us. 
Made allies of the heathen (the Saxons) in his war 
against Arthur. 

154 My house hath been my doom. Modred was Arthur's 
half-brother. He and Queen Guinevere were the two 
that had most injured the king. 

169 These first lines, (1-169), were added in 1869 to the 
first version of the Idyll, the Morte d' Arthur of 1842. 
It is not quite clear how the single combat, just told 
of, comes in. Is it in a pause in the battle? But all was 
quiet; see lines 127-31. 

170 In the Introduction to this poem, in the 1842 version, 
the poem is supposed to be read aloud by the poet to a 
group of friends. Notice how often, as in 171-2, the 
lines have a deep, sonorous quality. 



164 NOTES 

172 The name ** King Arthur's Table'* or "seat," has 
been applied to a hill near Tintagil, in Cornwall. 

177 Chancel. The inclosed part of the church in which the 
altar stands. Notice the beautiful and romantic scene 
in lines 177-80. 

198-9 Where have you read these lines before.'* 

205 The middle mere. The middle of the lake. 

206 Lightly. Quickly. 

211 Hest. Behest, command. 

213-9 Note the weird beauty of this picture, and how, in 
the last two lines, we get a feeling of the change in 
both sound and scene. 

220-30. Note the richness and beauty of these lines. 

228 This way and that dividing the swift mind. Students 
who know Latin may find that this line is a translation 
of /Eneidy iv, 285, which Virgil had borrowed from Ho- 
mer's Iliad, 1, 188-9. Tennyson greatly admired Virgil, 
and wrote a beautiful poem To Virgil in praise of him. 

238-9. Test the sound of these lines. Does it suggest the 
things described.'^ 

252 The dewy pebbles. The gems in the hilt. 

254 Chased. Wrought, ornamented. 

256 ff. Why does Sir Bedivere argue these points with 
himself.'^ 

276 Winmng reverence by the wonder and interest of the 
tale he told. 

278 Clouded with his own conceit. Blinded by the idea 
that had come to him. 

289 Authority forgets a dying king. What does this fine 
line mean.^ Explain the rest of the sentence. 

293 OflSces. Services, duties. 

304-15 Another of those rich and brilliant passages. The 
northern moon. Aurora borealis or "northern lights." 

350-1 Get the picture in these lines clearly. 

354-60 Read these lines aloud, clearly and vigorously. 



NOTES 165 

LINE 

Note again the rugged harshness and energy of the 

passage sliding off, at the end, into the smoother 

beauty of the last two lines. 
S67 The tingling stars. Twinkling, trembling as though 

affected by the agony of the cry. The same idea is 

suggested in shivered. 
369-71 What is the feeling inspired by these lines? 

381 Wky withered moon? 

382 The springing east. The early dawn. 

383 Greaves and cuisses. Armor for the legs: greaves be- 
low the knee, cuisses above. 

384 Onset. Conflict. 
398 Chance. Happening. 

400-1 The Star of Bethlehem that guided the Wise Men of 
the East to where the infant Jesus lay. See Matt. ii. 

498-10 New customs, new standards and ideals, come to 
take the place of the old; and God works out his pur- 
poses in many ways. Even a good plan may come to 
be misused, and a good institution grow corrupt. 

422-3 Explain these lines. 

427 Avilion (or Avalon) is, in Celtic legend, and as used by 
Tennyson, The Land of the Blest, a sort of earthly 
paradise in the western sea, like the Greek Hesperides. 
Not only Arthur but other heroes, like Ogier the Dane, 
were said to have been carried there after death. It 
is often called The Vale of Avalon. 

435 The belief that the swan sings a beautiful song just 
before death was old and widespread. Hence the 
phrase, **swan song," for last effort. 

442 The dead world's winter dawn. Note how this scene 
fits the ending of the story of Arthur. 

457-61 What is hinted in this passage? 

469 Does this line give a note of hope? Compare 408-10. 



166 NOTES 

DEDICATION TO THE QUEEN 

LINE 

This dedication to the Queen was first added in the 
general edition of the Poems in 1872-73. 
3 That rememberable day. The day of public thanksgiv- 
ing, in February, 1872, for the recovery of the Prince 
of Wales (later King Edward VII) from a severe 
illness. 

12 Thunderless lightnings, etc. Messages by cable. 

14 That true North, etc. In reference to Canada, and a 
sentiment that was heard for a time in England that 
Canada should be separated from England. 

20 The roar of Hougoumont. The battle of Waterloo. 
The chateau of that name was on the battlefield. 

21 Left mightiest, etc. After the victory at Waterloo 
England was unquestionably the greatest power in 
the world. 

35 For one to whom I made it. See the Dedication at the 
beginning of the Idylls in this volume. 

37 Shadowing Sense at war with Soul. Picturing or 
reflecting the conflict between evil and good, between 
the lower and the higher ideals. This line is the key- 
note to the meaning of the Idylls as a whole. See In- 
troduction, page 13. 

41-2 In reference to the different qualities given to the 
stories in the different versions. See Introduction, 
pages 7-9. 

55 Poisonous honey stoPn from France. Art and litera- 
ture from France, which seemed to the poet to be 
unwholesome or immoral. Tennyson has more than 
once showed his lack of belief in things French or 
sympathy with them. 



QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 

DEDICATION TO THE IDYLLS 

1. To whom is this dedication addressed? What is a dedi- 
cation of a book for? Have you ever seen one before? Some- 
times a very brief dedication is printed on one of the pages 
of a book, between the title-page and the first page of the 
preface. 

2. Explain the meaning of lines 2 and 3. 

3. Look up the rest of the quotation begun in line 7. You 
will find it in Guinevere, lines 464-480. It is a famous ex- 
pression of the finest ideals of chivalry. 

4. What high qualities does Tennyson ascribe to Prince 
Albert? Commit to memory lines 24-27. Explain the 
meaning of lines 27-29; of lines 30-33. See in the Notes the 
explanation of line 35. 

5. Does this Dedication seem extravagant in its adulation 
of royalty? 

THE COMING OF ARTHUR 

1. Note how the story is begun. The first paragraph tells 
who Guinevere was. The second paragraph begins the ac- 
count of the state of the country before Arthur came, and 
the fourth tells how Leodogran summoned Arthur to help 
him. The fifth paragraph tells of Arthur's love for Guin- 
evere; the fourth and sixth tell of the doubts about Ar- 
thur's right to be king. These two themes, introduced 
side by side, are the main themes of this Idyll. 

2. What was the state of the country before Arthur tri- 
umphed? What troubles and what enemies were there? 
Why were the Roman legions " groaned for "? 



168 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 

3. Who was King Uther, and why did it matter whether 
Arthur was or was not his son? 

4. What is the " golden symbol " referred to in line 
50? 

5. Read aloud lines 94-123, to feel the vigor and spirit 
in this account of the battle. 

6. Lines 124-133 give the vows of friendship between 
Arthur and Lancelot. Do you know how this friendship 
came later to be broken? If so, do you see the significance 
of introducing it here? 

7. Why does Leodogran hesitate about giving his daugh- 
ter to King Arthur? How does he seek to resolve his 
doubts? Explain lines 160-162. 

8. Why the different opinions of Arthur's worth, in lines 
178-182? 

9. Sir Bedivere, commonly called " the bold Sir Bedi- 
vere," gives the true account of Arthur's birth. It is he 
who is with Arthur at his death : see The Passing of Arthur. 
See in the Notes the explanations of various things in 
Bedivere's story, lines 177-236. 

10. Explain lines 245-6; line 247; line 252. 

11. What is meant by *'the savage yells of Uther's peer- 
age," lines 255-6? 

12. What evidence does Bellicent give of Arthur's moral 
force? See lines 259-278. Why did the knights have " a 
momentary likeness of the King "? What visions ap- 
peared? Read lines 279-293 aloud, the better to appre- 
ciate the rhythm of the verse. 

13. What doubt still remains in Leodogran's mind? Does 
his doubt seem reasonable, or does Tennyson merely make 
him doubt further for the sake of bringing out the story of 
Arthur? 

14. Note the traits of Bellicent's two sons : how are they 
shown ? 

15. What memory is indicated in lines 331-335? 

16. Read aloud, for the rhythm and the beauty of de- 



QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 169 

scription, Bellicent's memories of her childhood with her 
brother, lines 338-357. 

17. How does her account of the birth of Arthur, which 
she received from old Bleys, the magician, differ from Bedi- 
vere's account.'* Which account seems the more credible.'^ 
Would Leodogran have doubted a story merely because it 
was marvelous? Would you? 

18. How had Merlin answered her questions? What do 
his " riddling triplets " mean? 

19. Read aloud lines 411-423. Note how the verse rises 
in dignity as the Queen rises into prophecy of the coming 
fame of Arthur. 

20. What finally banishes Leodogran's doubts? Is it 
in keeping with the time that he should think his dream 
significant and trustworthy? What other instances of be- 
lief in dreams can you recall? Select some of the finest 
lines in this dream. 

21. Select the most beautiful lines in this picture of 
Arthur's marriage, lines 449-474. Compare with this pas- 
sage Tennyson's early short poem, Sir Lancelot and Queen 
Guinevere. 

22. What former passage in this Idyll do lines 463-4 
recall to you? 

23. Read aloud the triumphant battle-song of the 
knights, lines 481-501. Note the use of repetition; of 
harsh battle-like sounds; and the rough, staccato effects 
of the rhythm. 

24. What is the meaning of the appearance here of the 
messengers from Rome and the way they are received ? 

25. How does the last scene in this Idyll bring our 
minds round to the beginning? 



170 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 

1. Who was Gareth? Why did he remain at home? 
^ 2. What did he want to do? What kind of Ufe did he wish 
to lead? Find passages that justify your answer. 

3. Explain the parable in lines 98-114. 

4. Quote lines 115-8, beginning "Man am I grown." 

5. By what arguments does Gareth's mother try to 
dissuade him ? 

6. How did he win his mother's consent? What condi- 
tion did she impose? Why? 

7. Describe his departure, and his arrival at Camelot. 

8. What were his first impressions of the city? Describe 
his meeting with Merlin. 

9. Explain lines 254-274. Give, if you can, some parallel 
or instance of this truth from modern life. 

10. What functions of King Arthur's Court does Gareth 
first see? What impressions of the King do they give 
you? 

11. How is Gareth received by the King? Does any one 
suspect his disguise? 

12. How is he treated by his master. Sir Kay? How by 
Lancelot? 

13. How did he spend his time? How did he differ from 
his fellows? 

14. What is his first quest? 

15. What sort of girl does Lynette seem to be? How 
does she treat Gareth? Commit to memory lines 574-7. 

16. What adventures does Gareth meet on the way? 
How does he acquit himself? 

17. What allegory had been assumed in the armor of the 
men whom Gareth was to fight? See lines 1166 Jf. 

18. What is implied in the fact that the second combat 
is harder than the first, and the third fiercer still? See lines 
1100-4. 



QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 171 

19. What do the lyrics that Lynette sings mean? Show 
how they form a real part of the story. 

20. What does the death's-head knight prove to be? 
What does this mean? 

21. Where else have you read a description like that of 
the tournament in lines 1323-1345? 

22. What does " fieshless laughter " (line 1348) mean? 

23. How do you like the ending of the story ? 

24. What does the poem as a whole mean to you?, 

LANCELOT AND ELAINE 

1. Note how the story opens in the middle, — in medias 
res, as it is called. Where does the author go back to the 
beginning? 

2. What things are told about Elaine in the first para- 
graph? 

3. Give an account of the origin of the "diamond jousts.'* 

4. What was Lancelot's purpose in these tourneys? How 
did he happen to go unknown to this last one? 

5. What does Guinevere say of Arthur? What impres- 
sion has he made on you? 

6. Who were in the household of Astolat? How do they 
receive Lancelot^ Do they know who he is? What sort of 
face and manner had he? 

7. Why does Lancelot wear Elaine's favor? Does any 
vestige of this old custom of chivalry still survive? 

8. Compare the tournament here (lines 426-522) with 
that in Ivanhoe. 

9. Whom does Arthur send in search of Lancelot? How 
does he perform his mission? How does Arthur rebuke him? 

10. What indications of Guinevere's jealousy do you find? 

11. What things in Elaine's life, her circumstances, and 
her character, seem to make her declaration of love less bold 
and unmaidenly than it might be in another? 

12. Comment upon Lancelot's attitude towards her? 



172 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 

13. Why does she wish to be carried to Camelot after 
her death? 

14. What do the people there think and say of her? 

15. What things in the story put it in the land of pure 
romance? 

16. How does this Idyll show the growing force of evil 
at the Court? 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 

1. The earlier form of this Idyll was published by Ten- 
nyson in 1842, under the title Morte d' Arthur. (See the 
Notes.) To this earlier version was prefixed the following 
Introduction : 

THE EPIC 

At Francis Allen's on the Christmas-eve, — 
The game of forfeits done — the girls all kiss'd 
Beneath the sacred bush and past away — 
The parson Holmes, the poet Everard Hall, 
The host, and I sat round the wassail-bowl. 
Then half-way ebb'd : and there we held a talk. 
How all the old honor had from Christmas gone. 
Or gone, or dwindled down to some odd games 
In some odd nooks like this; till I, tired out 
With cutting eights that day upon the pond, 
"Where, three times slipping from the outer edge, 
I bump'd the ice into three several stars. 
Fell in a doze; and half awake I heard 
The parson taking wide and wider sweeps, 
• Now harping on the church-commissioners. 
Now hawking at Geology and schism; 
Until I woke, and found him settled down 
Upon the general decay of faith 
Right thro' the world, "at home was little left, 
And none abroad: there was no anchor, none. 
To hold by." Francis, laughing, clapt his hand 
On Everard's shoulder, with "I hold by him." 
"And I," quoth Everard, "by the wassail-bowl." 
"Why yes," I said, "we knew your gift that way 
At college; but another which you had, 
I mean of verse (for so we held it then). 
What came of that? " "You know," said Frank, "he burnt 
His epic, his King Arthur, some twelve books" — 
And then to me demanding why? "Oh, sir. 
He thought that nothing new was said, or else 
Something so said 't was nothing — that a truth 
Looks freshest in the fashion of the day: ^ 



QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 173 

God knows: he has a mint of reasons: ask. 
It pleased me well enough." "Nay, nay," said Hall, 
"Why take the style of those heroic times.' 
For nature brings not back the Mastodon, 
Nor we those times; and why should any man 
Remodel models? these twelve books of mine 
Were faint Homeric echoes, nothing-worth. 
Mere chaff and draff, much better burnt." "But I," 
Said Francis, "pick'd the eleventh from this hearth 
And have it: keep a thing, its use will come. 
I hoard it as a sugar-plum for Holmes." 
He laugh'd, and I, tho' sleepy, like a horse 
That hears the corn-bin open, prick'd my ears; 
For I remember'd Everard's college fame 
When we were Freshmen: then at my request 
He brought it; and the poet little urged. 
But with some prelude of disparagement. 
Read, mouthing out his hollow oes and aes, 
Deep-chested music, and to this result. 

2. Sir Bedivere, " first made and latest left of all the 
knights," figures in The Coming of Arthur. Do you re- 
member how? 

3. Is the first paragraph (lines 1-5) a sentence? Or is 
it more like a title, or description, of what follows? 

4. Is the use of for, line 6, like our use of it to-day? 
Could it be omitted here? 

5. In lines 9-28, what is it that Arthur despairs of? What 
hopes had he entertained that have failed him? Explain 
lines 9-11. 

6. Is there anything in the vision of Gawain's ghost that 
reminds you of Gawain living? 

7. Explain the comparison in lines 38-40. 

8. What lines in this paragraph (lines 29-49) give the 
sense of mystery or terror? 

9. Why does the King feel such deep dejection? 

10. Study the description beginning '* the sunset bound 
of Lyonnesse." What was this country like? 

11. What time of year is it? What is the season of the 
year at the end of The Coming of Arthur ? What things in 
the scene and the season are in harmony with the King's 
dejection? 

12. Read aloud lines 79-117. Select lines that are strik- 
ing either for their rhythm or the picture they present. 



174 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 

Do such lines as 82, 85, 86, 92, 94, 95, move rapidly or 
slowly? What is the meaning of 82-3, 84, 87, 90-1? Note 
the striking effects in the description of the battle: the 
sense of confusion in the mist and darkness, the thoughts 
and memories that come to the fighters, the impression 
of crash and struggle and crude violence, the base passions 
and foul speech, the suffering and the grief. Taken as a 
whole, does this passage make war seem heroic or hor- 
rible? Read again lines 106 to 117, and notice the effect 
of the sound: how the passage gives the shock and crash 
of the fight, and the effect, at the end, of the cessation of 
sound and struggle. 

13. In lines 120-1, note the effect of the s sounds: what 
are they intended to resemble? 

14. What is the picture we get of the waves rising over 
the battlefield? See lines 127-135. Does this again make 
war seem heroic? 

15. Read line 139. Note how slowly and laboringly it 
moves. What does this suggest to you? Compare the 
movement of it with that of line 141. What does line 140 
mean? 

16. Note in the next five lines how Arthur seems to feel 
the emptiness of all his work, the unreality of himself and of 
everything. How does Bedivere try to cheer him? 

17. In what sense does the King mean, " My house hath 
been my doom," line 154? 

18. What is Arthur's last deed before he falls? 

19. With line 170 begins the first-published part of the 
Idylls. Note the sonorous, rolling quality of the opening. 
What is the scene pictured here? What feelings does it 
stir in you? 

20. What things does Arthur recall of the golden days in 
Camelot? What story of Excalibur did you read in the first 
Idyll? What command does the King give Bedivere? 

21. Read aloud lines 213-219. Which seem best to you? 
Which, if any, suggest the idea by their sound? This whole 



QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 175 

passage, like lines 170-180, and many others in this Idyll, 
is what is called romantic; do you know what that means? 
If not, consult a dictionary, your teacher, or any other 
authorities you can. 

22. In lines 220-233, which lines excel in giving a picture? 
Which in the effect of sound? 

23. How does the King know that Bedivere deceived 
him? How does he rebuke him? How does Bedivere the 
second time justify to himself his disobedience? 

24. Note lines 273-4. Tennyson himself thought these 
lines were very good. Can you see why? Would you have 
selected them as fine poetry? 

25. Explain the meaning of lines 275-277; of line 278. 

26. How does Arthur's second rebuke differ from his first? 
Explain line 289. How does Bedivere this time make sure 
of obedience? What happens when he flings the sword? 
What lines in the description would you select as finest? 
Read aloud lines 301-315. What lines seem, in their move- 
ment, swift or slow, to suit the action? 

27. Read aloud lines 344-360. Point out in them some of 
the qualities you have already had called to your attention 
in other lines; the romantic quality of the scene, the way 
the lines express the idea not only by what they say but 
by their sound and movement, and especially the fine tran- 
sition or change in the last seven. Select the lines that you 
think most impressive. 

28. Read aloud lines 361-371. Comment upon them as 
upon the preceding passage. What are some of the most 
suggestive words in these lines? 

29. What or who do you suppose the three queens were? 
See the Introduction, page 12. 

30. Lines 408-410 are among the best known in all Ten- 
nyson's poetry. What do they mean? How do they apply 
to Arthur's work, and to the work of other leaders that 
came after? Can you think of some order or system that 
is now changing, "yielding place to new"? Or of some 



176 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 

"good custom" no longer good for the world? Commit 
these lines to memory. 

31. Commit to memory also lines 418-423. What do they 
mean ? 

32. What was Avilion? Compare it with the Islands 
of the Blest, or the Garden of the Hesperides, in Greek 
mythology. 

33. Read the last two paragraphs aloud. What do the 
last two lines suggest .f* Compare lines 408-410. 

34. Review in your mind the four Idylls in this volume: 
What were Arthur's hopes and plans in the beginning? 
What work did he set himself to do? What interfered with 
his success and finally destroyed his kingdom? Which of 
his friends were false, which true? Does the conflict of 
right and wrong, this account of " Sense at war with Soul," 
as Tennyson phrased it, which runs through the whole 
story, end in victory for the evil, or is it implied that good 
will triumph in the end? 

35. Or, does the chivalric and romantic part of the story 
interest you more than the moral of the stories? If so, 
what characters, what actions, what scenes can you recall? 
What pictures have you hung up in the gallery of your 
memory? Can you call before your mind, for instance, the 
mythical coming of Arthur on a wave of the sea and his 
mythical departure in the boat with the three black-robed 
queens? Or the picture of Gareth approaching Camelot? 
Or Elaine's body steered up the river into the city? Or the 
marriage of Arthur, with the mailed warriors around him 
shouting their battle-song? Or the ruined shrine, the place 
of tombs, the dim and misty night of midwinter when 
Arthur lay dying? What other pictures can you recall? 

36. Or, if you take pleasure in things well said, what lines 
have stuck in your memory? What phrases give you pleas- 
ure by coming back to you? What things would you like 
to have been able to say as well? 



QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 177 



Readers of the Idylls should know also these poems of 
Tennyson's: — 

When down the stormy crescent 
g"oes, 
A light before nie swims, 
Between dark stems the forest 
glows, 
I hear a noise of hymns. 
Then by some secret shrine I ride ; 
I hear a voice, but none are 
there ; 
The stalls are void, the doors are 
wide, 
The tapers burning fair. 
Fair gleams the snowy altar-cloth, 
The silver vessels sparkle clean, 
The shrill bell rings, the censer 



SIR GALAHAD 

My good blade carves the casques 
of men. 
My tough lance thrusteth sure. 
My strength is as the strength of 
ten, 
Because my heart is pure. 
The shattering trumpet shrilleth 
high, 
The hard brands shiver on the 
steel. 
The splinter'd spear-shafts crack 
and fly, 
The horse and rider reel ; 
They reel, they roll in clanging 
lists, 
And when the tide of combat 
stands. 
Perfume and flowers fall in 
showers, 
That lightly rain from ladies' 
hands. 

How sweet are looks that ladies 
bend 
On whom their favors fall ! 
For them I battle till the end, 

To save from shame and thrall ; 
But all my heart is drawn 
above, 
My knees are bow'd in crypt 
and shrine ; 
I never felt the kiss of love. 

Nor maiden's hand in mine. 
More bounteous aspects on rne 
beam, 
Me mightier transports move 
and thrill ; 
So keep I fair thro' faith and 
prayer 
A virgin heart in work and 
will. 



swings. 
And solemn chants resound be- 
tween. 



Sometimes on lonely mountain- 
meres 
I find a magic bark ; 
I leap on board; no helmsman 
steers ; 
I float till all is dark. 
A gentle sound, an awful light ! 
Three angels bear the Holy 
Grail : 
With folded feet, in stoles of 
white, 
On sleeping wings they sail. 
Ah, blessed vision ! blood of God ! 
My spirit beats her mortal bars, 
As down dark tides the glory 
slides, 
And star-like mingles with the 
stars. 

When on my goodly charger borne 
Thro' dreaming towns I go, 

The cock crows ere the Christmas 
morn. 
The streets are dumb with snow. 



178 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 



The tenipost crackles on the 
leads, 
And, ringing-, springs from brand 
and mail ; 
But o'er the dark a glory spreads, 

And gilds the driving hail. 
1 leave the plain, 1 climb the 
lieight ; 
No branchy thicket shelter 
yields ; 
But blessed forms in whistling 
storms 
Fly o'er waste fens and windy 
fields. 

A maiden knight — to me is given 

iSuch hope, 1 know not fear ; 
I yearn to breathe the airs of 
heaven 
That often meet me here. 
I muse on joy that will not cease, 
Pure spaces clothed iu living 
beams, 
Pure lilies of eternal peace, 

"Whose odors haunt my dreams ; 

And, stricken by an angel's hand. 

This mortal armor that I wear, 

This weight and size, this heart 

and eyes. 

Are touch' d, are turu'd to finest 

air. 

The clouds are broken in the sky, 

And thro' the mountain-walls 
A rolling organ-harmony 

Swells up, and shakes and falls. 
Then move the trees, the copses 
nod. 
Wings flutter, voices hover 
clear : 
"O just and faithful knight of 
God! 
Ride on ! the prize is near." 
So pass I hostel, hall, and grange ; 
By bridge and ford, by park and 
pale, 



All-arm 'd I ride, whate'er betide, 
Until 1 find the Holy Grail. 



SIR LAUNCELOT AND 
QUEEN GUINEVERE 

A KUAGMKNT 

Like souls that balance joy and 
pain. 

With tears and smiles from heaven 
again 

The maiden Spring upon the plain 

Came in a sunlit fall of rain. 

In crystal vapor everywhere 

Blue isles of heaven laugh'd be- 
tween, 

And far, iu forest-deeps unseen. 

The topmost elm-tree gather'd 
green 
From draughts of balmy air. 

Sometimes the linnet piped his 
song : 

Sometimes the throstle whistled 
strong : 

Sometimes the sparhawk, wheel'd 
along, 

Hush'd all the groves from fear of 
wrong : 
By grassy capes with fuller 
sound 

In curves the yellowing river ran. 

And drooping chestnut-buds be- 
gan 

To spread into the perfect fan. 
Above the teeming ground. 

Then, in the boyhood of the year, 

Sir Launcelot and Queen Guine- 
vere 

Rode thro' the coverts of the 
deer. 

With blissful treble ringing clear. 
She seem'd a part of joyous 
Spring : 



QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 179 



A jjown of jjraB»-jjre«,'ri «ilk she 
wore, 

liuoklfcd with golden cla«p» be- 
fore ; 

A lijjlit-green tuft of plurnea ahe 
>>ore 
Closed in a f^olden ring^. 

Now on Home twihted ivy-net, 
Now by »orne tinkling- rivulet, 
III mtttifidH mixt with violet 
iler cream-white ruule his paatem 

Bet ; 
And fleeter now she skirnru'd 

the plains 
Tlian she whose elfin prancer 

springs 
]iy night to eery warblings, 
When all the glimmering moor 

land rings 
With jingling bridle-reins. 

As she fled fast thro' sun and 
sliade, 

The happy winds upon her play'd, 

lilowing the ringlet from the 
braid. 

She look'd so lovely, as she sway'd 
The rein with dainty finger- 
tips, 

A man had given all other bliss. 

And all his worldly worth for this. 

To wast^j his whole heart in one kiss 
Upon her perfect lips. 



THE LADY OF SHALOTT 



On either side the river lie 
Long fiehls of barley and of rye. 
That clothe the wold and meet the 

sky ; 
And thro' the field the road runs 
by 
To many-tower'd Camelot ; 



And up and down the people go, 
Oa/ing where the lilies blow 
Round an island tliere below, 
The island of Shalott. 

Willows whiten, asj>en8 quiver, 
lyittle breeaies dusk and shiver 

j Thro' the wave that runs forever 

I liy the island in the river 

Flowing down Ut Camelot. 
Four gray walls, and four gray 

towers, 
Overlook a space of flowers. 
And the silent isle imlxjwera 

! The Lady of Shalott. 

By the margin, willow-veil'd, 
Slide the heavy barges trailVl 

' By slow horses ; and unhaild 
The shallop flitteth silken-sail'd 

I Skimming down to Camelot '■ 

' But who hath seen her wave her 
hand ? 

I Or at the casement seen her s^and ? 

I Or is she known in all the laud, 
The Lady of Sliakitt ? 

Only reapers, reaping early 
In among the bearded barley, 
Hear a song that echoes cheerly, 
From the river winding clearly, 

Down to tower'd Camelot ; 
And by the moon the rea|)er 

weary, 
Piling sheaves in uplands airy. 
Listening, whispers " 'Tis the fairy 

Lady of Shalott." 



There she weaves by night and 

day 
A magic web with colors gay. 
She has heard a whisper say, 
A curse is on her if she stay 
To look down to Camelot. 



180 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 



She knows not what the curse may 

be, 
And so she weaveth steadily, 
And little other care hath she, 
The Lady of Shalott. 

And moving thro' a mirror clear 
That hangs before her all the year, 
Shadows of the world appear. 
There she sees the highway near 

Winding down to Camelot ; 
There the river eddy whirls, 
And there the surly village-churls, 
And the red cloaks of market girls, 

Pass onward from Shalott. 

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad, 
An abbot on an ambling pad. 
Sometimes a curly shepherd-lad, 
Or long-hair'd page in cri mson clad. 

Goes by to tower'd Camelot ; 
And sometimes thro' the mirror 

blue 
The knights come riding two and 

two: 
She hath no loyal knight and 

true, 
The Lady of Shalott. 

But in her web she still delights 
To weave the mirror's magic 

sights, 
For often thro' the silent nights 
A funeral, with plumes and lights 

And music, went to Camelot ; 
Or when the moon was overhead, 
Came two young lovers lately 

wed; 
*' I am half sick of shadows," said 

The Lady of Shalott. 

PART III 

A BOW-SHOT from her bower- 
eaves. 

He rode between the barley- 
sheaves. 



The sun came dazzling thro' the 

leaves 
And flamed upon the brazen 
greaves 
Of bold Sir Lancelot. 
A red-cross knight forever kneel'd 
To a lady in his shield, 
That sparkled on the yellow field. 
Beside remote Shalott. 

The geramy bridle glitter' d free, 
Like to some branch of stars we see 
Hung in the golden Galaxy. 
The bridle bells rang merrily 

As he rode down to Camelot ; 
And from his blazon'd baldric 

slung 
A mighty silver bugle hung. 
And as he rode his armor rung, 

Beside remote Shalott. 

All in the blue unclouded weatlier 
Thick-jewell'd shone the saddle- 
leather, 
The helmet and the helmet-feather 
Burn'd like one burning flame to- 
gether, 
As he rode down to Camelot; 
As often thro' the purple night, 
Below the starry clusters bright, 
Some bearded meteor, trailing 
light, 
Moves over still Shalott. 

His broad clear brow in sunlight 
glow'd ; 

On burnish'd hooves his war- 
horse trode ; 

From underneath his helmet 
flow'd 

His coal-black curls as on he rode, 
As he rode down to Camelot. 

From the bank and from the river 

He flash'd into the crystal mirror, 

" Tirra lirra," by the river 
Sang Sir Lancelot. 



QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 181 



She left the weh, she left the 

loom, 
She made three paces thro' the 

room, 
She saw the water-lily hloom, 
She saw the helmet and the 

plume, 
She look'd down to Camelot. 
Out flew the web and floated 

wide ; 
The mirror crack'd from side to 

side ; 
"The curse is come upon me," 

cried 
The Lady of Shalott. 



In the stormy east-wind straining-, 
The pale yellow woods were wan- 

The broad stream in his banks 

complaining-, 
Heavily the low sky raining 
Over tower'd Camelot ; 
Down she came and found a boat 
Beneath a willow left afloat, 
And round about the prow she 
wrote 
The Lady of Shalott. 

And down the river's dim expanse 
Like some bold seer in a trance, 
Seeing- all his own mischance — 
With a glassy countenance 

Did she look to Camelot. 
And at the closing of the day 
She loosed the chain, and down she 

lay; 
The broad stream bore her far 
away. 

The Lady of Shalott. 

Lying, robed in snowy white, 
That loosely flew to left and 
rig ht — 



The leaves upon her falling 

light — 
Thro' the noises of the night 

She floated down to Camelot ; 
And as the boat-head wound 

along 
The willowy hills and fields among, 
They heard her singing her last 

song. 
The Lady of Shalott. 

Heard a carol, mournful, holy, 
Chanted loudly, chanted lowly, 
Till her blood was frozen slowly, 
And her eyes were darkeu'd 
wholly, 

Turn'<l to tower'd Camelot. 
For ere she reach'd upon the -tide 
The first house by the water- 
side. 
Singing in her song she died, 

The Lady of iShalott. 

Under tower and balcony, 
By garden-wall and gallery, 
A gleaming shape she floated by, 
Dead-pale between the houses 

high, 
Silent into Camelot. 
Out upon the wharfs they came. 
Knight and burgher, lord and 

dame, 
And round the prow they read her 

name, 
The Lady of Shalott. 

Who is this ? and what is here ? 
And in the lighted palace near 
Died the sound of royal cheer ; 
And they cross' d themselves for 
fear. 

All the knights at Camelot: 
But Lancelot mused a littlespace; 
He said, " She has a lovely face ; 
God in his mercy lend her grace, 

The Lady of Shalott." 



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